


Emerald Eater

by DistressedHydra



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: (well very soft vore but i mean it still happens), Bathing/Washing, F/F, First Time, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Teasing, Vore, dragon - Freeform, trans severa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-05-04 13:03:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14593605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DistressedHydra/pseuds/DistressedHydra
Summary: Severa has a day off from practice, fighting, and performing, from everyone except for one. Nah tracks down Severa for her own purposes, and kidnaps her. After their burst of drama, they attract Cynthia's attention, the hero who will save the day!





	1. She's more like a pink diamond surrounded by emeralds

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I know I tagged it vore but it's like, the kind of vore that I like, i.e., no swallowing, no death, and not for very long. Also, consent, which is always nice.
> 
> Also I am so excited for a Severa/Nah pairing, I love Nah, but she isn't the type of character to just put herself into ridiculous situations like Severa does, so having the dynamic reversed is super fun!!!!!

Severa stood gormlessly in the middle of the camp. She couldn’t think of anything else to do right now, she had gone through basic drills for several hours, all her weapons were sharp, and since the army was supposed to be resting today, there were no sparring partners. There was a pleasant, cold breeze in the air, and plenty of people for Severa to bug. She smiled as she thought of Kjelle blatantly ignoring the order and practicing anyway, Cynthia galavanting through the woods, and Nah probably curled up with a book somewhere. Plenty to mess with.

The wind started to pick up, and Severa gazed up at the cloudless sky. There was a huge flapping noise, and she whirled around to see a pink dragon diving towards her. Before she could jump out of the way, there was a claw pinning her arms to her sides, and another clamped over her mouth. The dragon took off, and Severa tried to kick away from her, but she grabbed Severa’s legs to pin her still. It was definitely Nah, out of the three dragons in camp, only she was bright pink with emerald trailing fins. 

She was also definitely mad about something dumb. Maybe it was the book Severa stole? Maybe she was still mad about getting tripped in the mess hall? Severa hadn’t apologized for that one either. She winced, but even that small movement made Nah adjust her claw painfully around Severa’s face. Severa wracked her brain again, no one knew that she put thistles in Nah’s soap, right? That was probably the meanest thing she’s done lately. Severa groaned again, admitting to herself that she’ll probably deserve whatever Nah has planned. She stopped struggling entirely.

Nah stopped in mid-air, flapped quickly, then bowled Severa across a clearing. She hit a tree with her side, and let out an involuntary noise as the dull pain spread through. It’ll definitely leave a bruise. She glared over to Nah, who had already shifted back to her humanoid forme, and was stomping towards her. Severa scrambled to her feet, and shouted,

“Okay! Sorry! Whatever I did, sorry! But come on!” She pointed at the tree, “What in the risen’s left elbow was that? Just put me down normally!”

“Nah.” Nah puffed her chest out, “Well, you clearly already know! But I want to hear a legitimate apology, not just ‘I’m sorry for whatever’.”

“Okay nerd, I’m sorry for stealing your book.” She crossed her arms.

“What? That was you?”

“Uh.” Severa blinked, “Were you mad about the thistles?”

Nah narrowed her eyes, “What thistles?”

“Oh gods, uh, no thistles!” Severa threw her arms up, “That’s a joke!”

“Ha ha, no seriously, tell me about the thistles.” Nah bared her teeth.

Severa took a few steps back, “Uh, I might’ve put some thistles in your soap?”

“Wow! You really are the worst, Severa! No, it wasn’t even that either!” Nah smiled, “Now keep confessing, I want to know what other atrocities you committed against me.”

Severa’s face was burning, “What! You didn’t actually have anything against me!”

“Nah, I heard something really good from Kjelle. I mean, I wasn’t mad at you until now!” She put a finger up to her mouth, “But gosh, now I’m steamed! No, do you remember our hotsprings visit, just last week?”

“Yeah, we-”

“That was rhetorical!” Severa rolled her eyes, “And you remember trying to get me naked? You spent like, the whole time trying to-”

“You have no proof!” Severa averted her gaze, “That’s a baseless claim!”

Nah sniffed the air, then let out a pleasant hum, “That’s the distinct smell of a lie, Severa! You were totally into this!” She twirled around, making her white dress whirl in a perfect circle. Her legs were toned, but still softer-looking than most of the other soldiers, and she was wearing plain white boxers underneath, which were flush with her pink stockings. Severa bit her lip and pulled her eyes away, just to grimace when she saw Nah’s smug grin. She cackled,

“I was right, wasn’t I?”

Severa sputtered, “Well, you’re probably into me too! You didn’t kidnap me out to the middle of the woods for no reason, did you? Oh, and by the way Nah? Even a dead beetle would think you’re cute! Take that!” She crossed her arms and pouted.

“Wow, you really think I’m that cute?”

“Shut it! Whatever!”

“Anyway, to answer your previous question, yes, I did bring you out to the woods for a reason! To get a proper apology!”

Severa simpered, “Well, I admitted I was wrong, so what more do you need?”

“Hah! Plenty! But guess what? I know that getting you to  _ really _ apologize would be like pulling teeth,” Nah undid one of her boots, “So how about you share some of your knowledge with me?” She slid out of her boot slowly while making eye contact with an increasingly warm Severa.

“What in Naga’s name, why are you taking your clothes off? Nah? Nah!”

Nah stopped taking her clothes off, “What? Don’t you want to like, ‘do it’?”

Severa screamed into her hands, then stammered, “What the hell Nah! Why now? Why do you even want this in the first place? This is crazy! We’ve only known each other for, like,” Severa nervously counted to twenty on her fingers, “Whatever! This is totally out of the blue!”

Nah scrunched her face up, “Weren’t you just talking about how hot you think I am?”

“That’s a totally different thing! I mean, we can’t just, like, jump right in, right?”

“Sure we can! Especially ‘cause you owe me! Besides, you’re the best one to ask for that sort of stuff, right?”

“What would make you think that?! I don’t have sex any more often than you do!”

Nah laughed, “What? Everyone knows Kjelle banged you, Severa! And how often do you go missing with some village girl when you’re on a supply run?”

Severa glared into the dirt and mumbled, “Okay, but I banged Kjelle, not the other way around.”

“I don’t mean to be accusatory, but you’re clearly an expert at this!”

“Thanks, Nah. Let’s never talk about that ever again.”

“Okay! Let’s go back to talking about us having sex right now.” Nah pulled off her stockings, “So, this’ll be a valuable learning experience for me, so let’s be as thorough as possible, how many positions do you know?”

Severa glanced around the clearing, there was nothing prepared, and Nah had only brought her tiny handbag. She said, “Nah, we are in the middle of a dirty field, do you have sticks for brains? I’ll get chiggers!”

“Right. Sorry,” She smiled cutely, “We’ll just have to do the master-servant stuff later. I even have some cute rope back in my tent.”

Severa narrowed her eyes and dryly stated, “You’ve never had sex before and you want to be a dominatrix?”

“I’ve read books!” Nah’s face scrunched up, “And thanks to you, I have plenty of anger to vent.” Severa rolled her eyes, “Don’t you roll your eyes at me! You don’t know anything about that either!”

Nah struck a pose, unconsciously as far as Severa could tell, that bore an uncanny resemblance to one of Cynthia’s. It was adorable, but not quite “dominant”, or “intimidating”. Severa’s heart was racing at the thought of being dominated by Nah, even the phrase sounded demeaning in her head, like being smothered to death by a dozen puppies. Except this puppy in question was also horny as fuck and acting like she owns the place. 

Severa put a hand up to her mouth, and bowed her head down slightly, just enough to give her a seductive aire. She spoke in a high-pitched, cutesy tone,

“I don’t know anything? Please, Nah, show me your stuff and order me around, big girl!”

Nah’s face turned white as Severa made her way over, and began sputtering,

“What- What’s wrong with you?!”

She put up her hands defensively, and Severa stopped to put her hands on her hips.

“Wait, wait, no, this is exactly what I wanted, isn’t it? That’s what you’re trying to teach me.”

“Wow, excellent deduction! I’m so impressed.”

“Then get over here! I want to know how to eat someone out!” Nah grinned with a toothy smile, and now Severa was the nervous one. She said,

“Okay, but this is going to be a quick lesson. I don’t want to be pulling ticks out of my hair for the next eight weeks.” Severa crouched down and started trailing her fingers up Nah’s bare legs, “Welcome to ‘pussy eating 101’”

Nah snorted, “What college teaches that?”

“Sorry?”

“What college teaches ‘pussy-eating 101’?”

Severa tensed up, “Oh, you heard that. Probably the college of shut-the-hell-up-Nah.”

She hid her head underneath Nah’s skirt. Severa ran her tongue against Nah’s inner thighs, gradually working her way up. Nah gasped as she went, and grabbed Severa’s hair. Severa abruptly stopped mid-lick, and got out of Nah’s skirt to look up at her. Nah gasped with utter disappointment.

Severa cleared her throat, then spoke in a dry monotone, “The action that I performed there was called ‘foreplay’ and is an important prelude to sexual activity of any kind, in fact, some people-”

Nah laughed and tried to push Severa’s head back down, “Wow, you’re so annoying! I didn’t mean literally ‘teach me’!”

With a smug flourish, Severa stood up next to Nah, who started pouting almost immediately. Severa felt like she had found yet another ‘secret’ tunnel into Nah’s vault, and looked down her nose at her. She said,

“Oh? Is being a dom a teesny bit harder than you thought?”

Nah shook her head, and Severa’s heart sank at her equally-smug expression. She looked excited, like she had been waiting at the end of that tunnel, and finally got to spring a trap. Severa tensed up, and Nah took in a deep breath, then said, very matter-of-factly,

“I guess I’ll just have to eat you, then.” She shrugged, “Too bad, you’re really pretty, Severa.”

She ran her fingers over Severa’s face sensually, stroking back to her hair, then massaging for a bit before leaning her own face in.

“What? Nah? What’s going-”

Nah interrupted her with a gentle kiss, and Severa felt another fluttering in her chest. Nah was a wonderful kisser, bright and airy, but ever-present, and Severa counted her blessings.

There was a bright flash, and suddenly Severa was kissing a huge, scaly maw. She jerked back, but was stopped by Nah’s claws. Severa was lifted into the air, and deposited feet-first into Nah’s mouth. She shouted,

“Nah! Wait!”

Nah didn’t close her mouth all the way, Severa’s head and arms were pinned by her large, sharp teeth. Every other part of Severa was soaked, and she was loathe to even shift around. She screamed, “Put me down, I’m not food!” Nah’s huge tongue coiled around one of her legs like a wet blanket, “Oh gods, is that your tongue?” Severa kicked at it, and Nah responded by opening her mouth just a little more, and pulling Severa all the way inside. The pink roof of Nah’s mouth appeared for just an instant before it collapsed, and Severa was left in cramped, warm darkness. 

She could hear Nah breathing through her nose, and feel her shifting, searching tongue, gently massaging her back. Severa wasn’t actually worried that Nah would swallow her, but this was still pretty mean on her part. She tried prying her jaws open, but she had a bad angle, and Nah seemed to find it amusing, since she made a distant giggle. She shouted,

“Come on Nah! Let me out!”

There wasn’t much room to maneuver, and the air tasted stale and sticky already. To get one last chance at prying Nah’s jaw open, she crawled over onto her belly, and tried to open it again. Nah’s tongue explored between Severa’s legs, and she gasped with surprise as it ran across her crotch. She couldn’t resist grinding against it, the rough texture perfectly working its way through her sopping wet trousers. A temporary wave of shame washed over her, she was disappointed that she found this so hot. Nah seemed to sense that something was going down, and worked her tongue across Severa gently. She was quickly panting in Nah’s mouth, and shouted, softer this time,

“Okay, Nah, I’m sorry,” Nah roughly whipped her tongue between Severa’s legs, and she screamed as a wave of pleasure passed through her, “Gods! Let me talk!” Nah did it again, and giggled quietly. Severa convulsed and gripped any surface she could get her hands on with a shaking fist.

Before Severa got off, light returned as Nah opened her mouth, then fished Severa out with one scaly claw. She was still panting and grabbed one of Nah’s claws with one hand, then moved a hand down to her crotch to finish herself off. Nah laughed and put a claw in between Severa’s legs to stop her. Nah’s distant, under-watery voice said,

“Holy mother Naga, were you,” She paused to chuckle again, “Were you getting off to that?”

“Shut up!” Severa hid her face with one hand, and dismounted from Nah’s claw with the other, “It’s not that different to having sex normally!”

“Hell yeah it is, you weirdo! That was so much fun!”

Severa glared at Nah, “You know, I’m never going to  _ not _ want that now. You’ve ruined me.”

“Truth be told, that’s been one of my all-time fantasies. Someone I love helpless inside of me? I’m the only one big enough to do that, too! We should do this all the time.”  
Severa took a few deep breaths, “Ha. Maybe that’s a bit too far.” She moved a hand down to her crotch, but Nah tsked repeatedly,

“Hey! Did I say you could orgasm?”

“What?” Severa stopped in her tracks.

“You’re not going to get off until I say so.”

Nah’s dragon form was overwhelmingly huge, and Severa tended to forget that when she was fighting with them, or in her human form, but right now she was using it to its fullest extent. She was pacing a large circle around Severa, and was sashaying her huge, pink hips back and forth.

“I mean, you still need to make up for putting thistles in my soap, that’s just rude, Severa!” She shifted back to human form right next to Severa, “I’ll have you pay for the book later.”

“Ugh. You’re lucky that I think you’re hot.” Severa got down on her knees, “But I’m glad that I get to do the eating this time.”

Nah giggled, “Hey, you’re actually pretty fun when you aren’t being mean or rude! Oh, and pretty, too!”

Severa felt her cheeks getting redder, and hid herself under Nah’s skirt. She mumbled,

“I’m really glad whenever we get to spend time together, too…”

“What did you say?”

Severa started licking Nah’s inner thighs to avoid further questioning. Nah sighed contentedly, rubbing the back of Severa’s head to keep herself busy. Severa trailed kisses up each leg, and groped her butt with one hand. Severa just then noticed that Nah hadn’t taken off her boxers. She pulled out of Nah’s skirt and said,

“Nah, this is beyond ridiculous. How did you forget to take your underwear off? You suck at sex.”

“Hey!”

“Also, this grass is seriously uncomfortable, let’s just do this in a tent. You can do all of your silly dominatrix ideas there anyway.”

Nah moaned, “Ugh, fine, I’ll just fly us back to my tent.”

“We’re gonna have to spend like three hours just picking off all the chiggers, ticks, mosquitoes, moles, beetles, and whatever.”

She pulled out her dragonstone, and shifted quicky. A claw extended out from the burst of light, then grabbed Severa bodily. Nah cradled Severa between her two claws, and took off in just a few flaps.


	2. She has a nasty bite even without her jaws

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nah and Severa try to make plans around their goal, but Severa is getting more and more uncomfortable with the entire situation. She also doesn't know if it's even a secret at all.
> 
> There's not much sex in this one.

Severa stroked the scales under Nah’s chin, it was just within reach from where she lay, cradled with both hands. Nah craned her neck every so often to really get Severa’s hand where she wanted it. Severa indulged in a smile, as long as Nah couldn’t see her. Nah spoke in her distant, magically present voice,

“Wow, even flying with you is nice. I’m so glad that I threatened to eat you.”

Severa looked around with a mild panic, the camp was way closer than Severa thought it was, “Don’t talk so loud! We’re right over the camp!!”

Nah laughed, and started banking towards the amassed tents, “I’ll only tell a few people, not everyone.”

“Don’t do that either! Gods!”

“I want to get some stuff ready, and maybe freshen up a bit. Could you meet me at my tent once the sun goes down?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“All right, bye!”

“Huh?”

Nah opened her claws, and Severa plummeted several entirely unexpected feet. She impacted the ground, her breath rushed out, and pain rippled up her back. The shout she made was barely audible thanks to her lack of air,

“Nah! You overgrown-” She wheezed hard and scrambled up to her feet, then shouted with actual vigor, “You overgrown newt!”

She was already gone, somewhere beyond view. Severa was definitely going to pay Nah back for that later. After brushing herself off, she went back towards her tent.

 

\--

 

It was very nearly sundown now, and the air was only getting colder. She changed out of the saliva-addled outfit she had on earlier, and into a dress similar to Nah’s. Hers was blue instead of pink, with trousers and a plaid shawl. The bundle that she carried under her arm was a towel wrapped around a swimsuit. There was no way she was going into Nah’s mouth unprepared this time.

There was still a weird tension in her chest. She grit her teeth and walked around a few tents into the common area. It had been the same for all of her sexual encounters, she hadn’t even been able to talk to Kjelle with a straight face for months. Wouldn’t it be so easy to just not take Nah’s invitation, and instead just avoid her for months? She imagined how fast Nah would just kidnap her again if she spurned her now. Severa’s steps were much stiffer now.

She heard a shout, “Severa!” then a pair of arms wrapped around her waist. Severa leapt backwards and disengaged from the hug, protectively holding her bundle in her arms.

“Cynthia? What are you doing!”

“Hugging you! What are you doing? Swimming? Are you cooling down from getting kidnapped by Nah?” Cynthia’s normal grin was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she had a terrifying, slightly smug face. Nothing in the world was certain anymore.

Severa started backing up and stammering, “What? No, swimming is the worst, I mean, yeah! Of course I’m going swimming! But you shouldn’t join me, it’s a secret swim! Just for me!”

“Severa? Are you okay?”

“Yes I’m just peachy.” Severa backed up into a tent and tripped into it, undoing the strung-together sides and uprooting three stakes. She laid there, motionless.

“Did you want any help with that?”

“No.”

Cynthia giggled again, and Severa could feel her heart start to shut down. She definitely knew something, and something was more than nothing, which is what Severa wanted her to know. She looked up from the pile she was lying in, and Cynthia had actually left. Even her nosiness must have limits.

The sky darkened, and Severa realized with a start that she needed to fix the tent. She backed up and looked at the mess before her. It had only collapsed one of the sides, and she could fix it in just a few minutes.

Robin stopped and commented,

“Woah, Severa, did you mess up that tent?”

“Yeah, I fell on it. I’m not even going to look inside to see if I broke anything.” She turned to look at Robin, who was wearing sandals and several plush robes, “Taking a break harder than most?”

She laughed, “I wish! No, I couldn’t calm myself down all day, and only now, right before lights-out, could I convince myself to take a walk.”

“Gods, I can’t believe I was fooled for a second. You’re always taking on too much!”

“That’s fair,”

Severa turned around to interrupt and point at Robin, “Weren’t you the one who suggested that we do this in the first place?” She smiled, “What a hypocrite!”

“Guilty as charged! At least you seemed to make the most of it, did you just go swimming?”

Severa blinked, “Oh. Yes, totally. So anyway, what besides stressing yourself out have you done today?”

“Not much, at least, if by ‘stressing yourself out’, you mean preparing strategies, prepping our weapons, researching plegian betrayals, finishing a series of mystery novels about plegian betrayals, and discovering a new way to ruin my pen.”

“All of that sucks, so yeah, I think it counts!” Severa shrugged, “Were the novels at least okay? I know you like books.”

Robin’s eyes went wide, “They weren’t reassuring! But I mostly wanted to ask if you were free tonight. I could really waste a few hours doing makeup or something like that.”

This was very, very awkward. Severa could feel her face knotting up as she tried to think of an equitable solution. Nah might be trying to track her down already, the sun was certainly down, and the last thing Robin needed was her very, very rare relaxation time interrupted by an angry dragon.

“You know what, why not.” Severa thought, ‘Wait no that’s the worst possible solution’, “I just have a short errand to run first.” Severa’s face was turning red rapidly, “Uh, and do you know where Nah’s tent is?”

“Oh, of course, hers is just down that spoke, go to the very end, and it’s the third to the left.” Robin raised one eyebrow, “Does this have anything to do with her kidnapping you earlier today?”

Severa shot up from her progress with the tent. It was mostly fixed. She barked out,

“No. Thanks.”

Robin had a hand over her mouth, “I’ll see you soon, then!”

“Mmhm.”

Severa scurried off in the direction of Nah’s tent.

 

\--

 

She burst through the tent flap and immediately buried her face in her hands. The tent was suffused with red light from twenty different candles with adorable, heart and flower shaped glass covers. Nah’s bedsheets were plush and adorned with more hearts, and there were charms dangling from the ceiling. Nah herself lay stretched out on her bed, her legs coquettishly open, and head wrapped with pink pillows. She started cursing repeatedly.

Her nose was still buried in a book, though, and Severa had to clear her throat twice before she responded. She smiled,

“What? Do you think it’s too much?”

“Gods it’s way too much! I thought this was just a like, casual fling? How long have you been thinking about this?”

“Uh, maybe a month or two?”

Severa smashed her face together even more. Her cheeks were really, really warm. Nah leapt off her bed and sidled up to Severa, still at the entrance.

“So, what kind of package did you bring? Something…”

Severa mumbled “Don’t say it.”

“What?” She let Nah remove the wrapped towel from under her arm, “Is it something really embarrassing?”

Nah unwrapped the towel, and Severa’s bathing suit nearly fell onto the ground. She looked at it for a few seconds,

“Is this a bathing suit?”

“Yes.”

“Severa, this is a sex thing!” Nah took Severa’s face in her hands, “How much clothing are you supposed to wear when you have sex?”

Severa glared as hard as she could, “A reasonable amount!”

“And how much is reasonable?”

“A swimsuit?”

“No! None! You’re supposed to be naked!” Nah released Severa and cackled to herself, “And I thought I was the virgin here.”

“You’re going to stop talking!”

Nah stood up and shook her hips at Severa, “Make me.”

Severa just screamed, very softly, into her hands. Then she said, “Who is this person in front of me? What did you do with Nah?”

“Gods, stop being so dramatic. But seriously, you look really, really uncomfortable.” Nah crossed her arms, “Was it the candles? Honestly, I just thought those were really cute.”

“They are, but…” Severa gulped twice, “Could we do this some other night? I have to comfort our tactician tonight.”

“You’re cheating on me?”

Nah giggled, Severa started hyperventilating, “No! Nah! No! Oh my gosh, no, Robin literally walked up to me, this is just a thing,” Severa’s hands were shaking as she gesticulated wildly, “She likes when I’m blunt about stuff! It’s a thing, okay? I’m not making this up!”

“Okay okay calm down, I was joking. Sorry.” Nah bowed and tried to smile nicely, “Also, we aren’t even dating. You can’t cheat on me!”

“Thanks, that’s very reassuring. But we cannot do this today.”

Nah stepped back to her bed, and sat down.

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. Actually, I’m kinda mad!” Her face scrunched up, “You should help Robin. How about you stop by tomorrow morning? Don’t stay up too late!”

“Sure, that’s fine.” Severa made a mental note to skip most of her beauty routine, “You’re being suspiciously cool about this.”

“What, first it’s out of character because I’m too horny, then it’s out of character because I’m not horny enough?”

Severa screeched softly, “How did you get that out of what I said?!”

Nah cackled, “Gods, you really do hate any sexy words! I’m going to start saying ‘fuck’ a lot more. Right in your ear…”

“Okay, I’m done with you tonight. Bye.”

“Have a nice night!”

Only after walking halfway down the lane did Severa realize she had forgotten her towel and swimsuit with Nah.

 

\--

 

Robin was sitting in front of the fire. She was startled as Severa sat down next to her, but tried to pass it off as a welcoming shrug.

“How was your errand?”

“Mundane. How was your walk?”

“I actually just sat on the log here. Oh, but I did sign up for first watch, we should probably get over there.”

“Wow, this was your master plan? Assume that my errand would only take a few minutes?” Severa offered a hand to Robin, “What if we were beset upon by risen tortoises? Or really big snails?”

Robin chuckled and grabbed Severa’s hand firmly. Even after she had gotten up, the touch lingered, and Severa decided to hold on.

“I’m so glad that that’s not how Grima’s power works. If he could’ve made giant, deadly snails, I’m sure he would’ve already. Did you know that there’s a species of snail that can fire venomous harpoons?”

“What? What would a snail need harpoons for?”

“It’s a predatory snail! It mostly hunts other snails, and some species’ venom can even kill humans.”

“I am never touching a snail again.”

“Well, it’s mostly a marine species, so it’s no threat to us here.”

“You’re telling me I have to avoid beaches for the rest of my life?”

“Yup! That’s the only safe way. You should just hide in your tent forever.”

“I could do that! Y’know, I might actually go through all of the makeups I’ve bought.”

Robin blinked as she looked over to Severa, her eyes wide.

“I’m kidding oh my gods, don’t give me that look!”

“You said it so wistfully!”

“Oh yeah? Maybe that’s what I’ll do once we win!”

The hand holding hers squeezed harder.

“We don’t really know what’ll happen at the meeting. I’m trying to stay optimistic.”

Severa turned to look at Robin. Her other hand was balled into a fist, and she was avoiding eye contact.

“That’s a lie. You read how many books about plegian drama? Even if you were ‘trying’, you definitely aren’t succeeding.”

“Well, what else can I do? How can i-”

“You can’t! You aren’t omnipotent or anything, and never have been. The best you can do is what you’ve been doing.”

Robin went silent. They trudged along for a few minutes, and clambered up the guardhouse stairway. It creaked and bent beneath them, then went silent as they settled in. Robin let go of Severa’s hand.

“Whoever was supposed to be here left early.”

A slight chuckle escaped Robin’s lips, “Could you blame them? At least they left the lamp lit.”

Severa’s eyes went wide, “That’s more dangerous! An untended lantern? We’re lucky to still have the camp at all. We won’t even need the venomous snails.”

“Venomous snails would certainly exacerbate the issue! Maybe we should do snail drills.”

“Snail drails?”

“What?”

“Nevermind. Did you do any training today?”

“Oh, actually no, I guess that’s a little relaxing. I didn’t even pick up a tome today, what is wrong with me?”

Severa scoffed, “More like what’s right with you! Like, actually taking your own advice? How strange!”

Robin nudged Severa in the shoulder, “Hey, I try! It was my advice in the first place, right?”

“Does it really count if you got it out of a book somewhere?”

Robin opened her mouth to protest, but ended up saying nothing. Severa gave her a smug smile.

“Shoot, you got me there. I’m a fraud.”

“No! You’re way better than that. You were the only one who read that book, for starters.”

“Thanks, Severa.”

They lapsed into comfortable banter, and Severa ended up taking most of the watch with her.

The walk back to her tent was weirdly lonely, the wind whistling past her the entire way. It was so dark that she could only get by on rote memory. She hadn’t really felt tired until now, hopping from person to person, but it really had been a weird day.

Instead of lighting a candle or anything to change, she just laid down on her cot.

 

\--

 

“Hey Severa!” Severa woke with a start, “Wow, you didn’t even change clothes?”

“Nah what in Naga’s name are you doing?”

Nah was standing in the middle of her still-dark tent, “Oh, I was just getting impatient. Wait, did you not bathe last night?”

“No! I do that in the morning! Nah, you can’t just burst into people’s tents uninvited!”

“Yeah, but we’re going to have to move fast if we want to do this before morning drills. Come on, let’s get you washed! Could I use some of my soaps?”

A headache pounded in Severa’s head. It felt way, way too early for this. Only Cynthia had gotten her up this early, and she was still mad about that, too. Severa let herself be dragged out of bed. Nah still had her towel, and was chatting incessantly about some perfumes and dragon-shaped soaps.

“You are literally the most predictable person in the world.”

“Excuse me?”

“You got soaps just because they were shaped like a dragon?”

Nah pouted, then reached in front of Severa and whipped aside the curtain to the baths. She said,

“Well, I won’t help you warm up the water with my dragonbreath then!”

“Good! You couldn’t do that anyway, you breathe ice!”

Severa picked up a bucket, and a cough of flame rushed past her face. She leapt back, cradling the bucket in her arms.

“Woah! I didn’t even know I could do that!”

“What in the world Nah! You’re insane!”

“Okay, now I’m so excited about my new fire breath that you have to let me help!”

Severa stepped out of the tent to the tub out back, and filled the bucket. Soon enough, a tiny, warm light appeared in the tent. Nah shouted,

“Hurry! Hurry, I don’t know how long it’ll last!”

Severa sighed heavily and joined Nah, “Did you get kindling first?” She stared at Nah’s pathetic, burnt patch of dirt, “That’s not how a fire works, Nah! Unless you want to just breathe on the bucket for like thirty minutes.”

Severa pointed to a brazier with some mostly-burnt logs in it, and grabbed some hay from a pile nearby. She put the hay on the brazier, then shouted,

“Hey! You’ve started a fire before, how come you don’t know this?”

She giggled pretty hard, “I guess I just forgot! It’s kind of exciting to learn something new about yourself, isn’t it!”

“I highly doubt anyone else in this camp will suddenly discover that they can breathe fire.”

“Yeah! I’m so cool!”

Severa’s eyes practically rolled out of their sockets. Nah leaned down with her cute little butt in the air and breathed a few sparks onto the kindling. It caught fire slowly, and an extremely pleased Nah leapt up with a huge smile on her face.

“Good job. Now are you going to leave me alone so I can bathe?”

Nah raised an eyebrow, “You were going to wash yourself before we did it? It’d just leave you filthy for the entire day. Especially if I ate you again!”

“Yeah, but wouldn’t I taste bad?”

“Hm, let me check,” Nah grabbed one of Severa’s arms and licked it just as she tried to whip it away,

“Gah! Nah!”

She pondered the taste for a few seconds, “Nope, you taste fine.”

“Okay but you can’t transform in here, there isn’t enough space.” Severa crossed her arms and leaned against the tub. Nah took the opportunity to sidle directly in front of Severa, and put a hand on her thighs.

“You know what there is enough space for?”

Severa leaned back against the tub as far as she could. It was proving to be far harder to convince herself that having sex with Nah was a good idea. She was really cute. Like, perpetually cute. But she was also so pushy that it was hard to breathe with her sometimes, and Severa had no idea how to articulate that. Like, for example, right now. Nah had already stripped her of her shawl and her hands were working up under her dress. She felt Nah’s cold hands on the small of her back, and closed her eyes at the touch.

“Could you stop leaning on the tub? I can’t get your dress off.”

“Okay, back up yourself, stallion, you’re the one pinning me against it.”

Nah leaned back a little bit, “Ooh, now I’m a horse? It’d be easier if you were the horse, I always liked eating horses.”

Severa froze in place on the tub, “Excuse me? Is that legal?”

“Well, wild horses! I don’t just steal horses!”

“Good job killing the mood, Nah! That is literally the worst pillowtalk I’ve ever heard! I thought Kjelle’s,” Severa stuck her arms out to imitate Kjelle,”Whoops, I dropped my hand on your boobs’ would bring me to my grave, but you,” She mimed opening a book and then mimicked Nah’s higher voice,”’Oh, I murder wild horses for fun’, beats that by a country mile!”

Nah giggled in stifled fits, “Did she really say that? Wow, I can totally imagine that.”

“That’s not the point! You need better lines! Maybe say something like,” Severa put a shaking hand on Nah’s shoulder, ”You’ve got beautiful eyes, I wouldn’t mind them seeing-” She cut herself off amid Nah’s laughter, “No! You killed the mood! Now it’s impossible for these to not be cheesier than a baked potato after we raid a dairy farm!”

“No, no, finish it! There’s no way that wasn’t going to be awful!”

Severa sort of slunk back into herself, “Okay yeah that was not a good example anyway, but I could come up with a better one! Is my point!”

“You’re ridiculous.” Nah pushed Severa back up against the tub and kissed her on the lips, “But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Screw you! I’m-” She was interrupted by another kiss, this one far more forceful. Severa’s eyes narrowed, and she took the opportunity to start stripping Nah. Unfortunately, she hadn’t exactly memorized her outfit, and ended up just groping aimlessly at Nah’s back. Nah smiled and drew back, arching her back at the touch.

“Okay, hurry up and get your clothes off! Come on!”

“Wait, is the water warm enough yet?”

Nah let out a disappointed moan, but got off of Severa. She quickly took off her dress, then started undoing her pants.

“Oh yeah it’s definitely warm enough, there’s steam coming off and everything-” Nah turned around and put a hand up to her mouth, “And now there’s steam coming off of you.”

“What?” Severa looked at her shoulders, “No there isn’t,”

“Because you’re so hot!”

“Oh.” Severa reflexively hid her chest with her arms, and knew she was turning just beet red. Nah didn’t seem to be having any better of a time, her hand was solidly over her mouth, but there was a hint of a smile on either side of it.

“That one was pretty good!”

“Fine! Whatever! Just bring the water over here, and the soaps you brought.”

Nah’s eyes lit up, “Oh my gosh, I get to touch those muscles?”

“Not if you keep talking like that!”

Severa closed her eyes and undid her pants. She stepped into the tub, and Nah was immediately on her with a warm rag and some strong-smelling soap. It was a very pleasant, lavender smell, with a little spicy hint on top.

“Is this the dragon soap you got?”

“Yeah! The salesperson said that it had a distinct aroma reminiscent of a dragon’s? I mean, I don’t usually smell like this, but maybe if I wear it enough that’ll be true.”

“Seriously? You’ll become a soap advertisement?”

“Gotta have a hobby!”

Nah massaged around her shoulder blades, and started scrubbing down one arm. It was pleasant, especially with Nah nuzzling her head into whatever cranny she could get it in. It was also really really tedious, and Severa didn’t want to spend all day in the bath.

“Hey, Nah, do you have another rag so I can help?”

“Nope!”

“Are you serious,” Severa turned around too quickly, which smacked her face into Nah’s.

“Hey!”

Sure enough, Nah only brought one rag and a towel, which Severa was not going to waste when the temperature outside was low enough to freeze her hair together. Severa moaned pointedly, and Nah just giggled again. She leaned back in tub, and Nah scooted all the way around to wash Severa’s chest from behind. There was some special attention on her belly, and Severa interrupted her probing fingers,

“No, I’m not ticklish. I think Cynthia still is, though.”

“What?! I could’ve sworn you were the most ticklish!”

“Haha, sorry to disappoint-” Nah got her fingers under Severa’s armpits and she nearly instantly burst out laughing, jerking away as fast as possible, “What was that for?!”

“You expected me not to wash under your arms? That’s like, the dirtiest part!”

Nah still had such a huge grin, and nothing that girl did would be one hundred percent innocent, “Would you at least let me wash those parts then? I don’t want to break an elbow on the tub. Or vice versa.”

“Fine, but as payment, you have to let me tickle you later!”

“What?! That’s entirely unfair!”

“Well, it’s unfair that you keep turning me on! I mean, your rippling muscles, your petite lips, your fantastic cackle, I just want to hoard it all!”

“Ugh. Fine.”

Nah handed the rag over to Severa, then started washing her hair by hand. She soaked it in the warm water at first, then added shampoo gradually.

“Is there anything special about the shampoo?”

“Thanks for asking! I got it at a weird market stall in a darkened alley.”

There was a significant pause in their conversation. Severa refused to react how Nah wanted her to, and instead just sat calmly. Sure enough, Nah let out a disappointed hum.

“They said it was made from pearl extract or something, it was really expensive.”

“I’m not surprised that you managed to get swindled by a snake-oil salesperson.”

“Oh hush! I haven’t even used it yet,”

“Hey, am I a test subject?!”

“Yup!”

Severa let out a loud huff, then moved to wash her legs. She put her foot up on the side of the tub, and washed both before Nah screamed,

“Wait! I wanted to touch your legs! Don’t wash them!”

“Idiot! You can touch my legs without washing them! Just wait until I’m done bathing!"

“Don’t call me that!”

“Okay, sorry. But seriously! Just touch my legs if it’s that important to you!”

“Don’t mind if I do!”

Nah kept one hand on Severa’s hair, but the other one creeped down Severa’s body, tickling and teasing, “Hey, you are ticklish on your belly! You were just faking earlier!”, until she wrapped her hand around one of Severa’s thighs.

“Happy now?”

“Yup!”

Nah moved her hand back to stroking through Severa’s hair. She whispered,

“Did I forget anything? I shampooed your hair, conditioned it, and then rinsed it. Is that all?”

“That’s fine for now.”

“Now hand me the rag back!”

“Make me.” Severa moved to the other end of the tub from Nah, who made a weird noise and tried to grab at her. Eventually Nah got a shoulder, and tried to pull Severa closer. Severa pulled her into the tub, and poured the rest of the water on her.

“Agh! No!” Nah pulled her cape off and strung it over the side, “That’s gonna take forever to dry!”

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to take forever in here.” Severa drew closer to Nah, pulling her in for a kiss. Nah laughed,

“Was that your idea of a pick-up line?”

“Hey! If we’re turning this into a contest, we’re 1 to 1, at the worst!”

Nah spoke huskily as she pushed her way through Severa’s legs, “I know one thing I want to put on your thing.”

She put a hand over Severa’s crotch, but Severa burst out laughing before she could make any headway.

“This is ridiculous. You’re not allowed to hit on me ever again.”

“What!” Nah winced, “Okay, I didn’t think that one through.”

Severa grabbed the towel and started drying Nah off. Nah took the opportunity to get between her legs again, and Severa batted her hands away.

“No, I don’t really feel like it.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“Let’s just do this some other time. I don’t want to have sex right now.”

“Oh come on! We did all that just for nothing?”

Severa narrowed her eyes, “Nothing? We hung out for the entire morning! You aren’t going to make me have sex in a tub no matter what!”

Nah pouted and left the tub, still dripping wet, “Oh, is that how you feel? Well, catch me somewhere far away then! Is this why you didn’t speak to Kjelle for a month?”

Severa pinned her towel close to her chest.

“Who in the world do you think you are? You don’t know anything about me!”

“Yeah! I guess I don’t!”

Nah stormed out of the tent. Severa sat back in the tub, and took her face in her hands. This wasn’t even slightly unexpected, but she cried anyway. They ran down the creases of her hands, and vanished into the dirty tub below her.

It took her a while to actually dry herself off, and empty the tub.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope that the ending was properly foreshadowed. It's not really a nice thing to think about, but sometimes people feel entitled to sex, when it's really way more important to respect consent. I'm structuring this similarly to a support conversation, where one convo. sets up the conflict, in this case Nah's refusal to recognize Severa's bodily autonomy, the second one actualizes the conflict, and the third one sets things right.
> 
> also, don't worry, all that foreshadowing will be paid off, if not in the next chapter.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Savior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cynthia tries to do something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit has it really been four months?!?! aaaaggh!!! i guess it's better than quietly cancelling it like i was planning to. and this definitely isn't the longest i've worked on a chapter for ahaha, but i didn't think this chapter was going to be this long. hope you like it anyway!!!

 

Cynthia piled the last of the large crates onto a wagon.  She had finished her work in record time, and for good reason, too . Severa had been acting super duper weird ever since two days ago, and Cynthia was determined to do something about it. Earlier, she heard Severa mutter, ‘I’m only going to be around stuff that’s as prickly as me,’ and the front of the convoy was mostly weapons. She must be up there somewhere!

(But of course, Cynthia had one more, solemn duty to attend to! She waved at the people directing the horses, and shouted,

“Thank you all so much! We couldn’t do any of this without your hard work!”

Some of the soldiers started talking amongst themselves. Cynthia recognized one from a rescue she did several months ago, and sprinted up to greet her. She shouted,

“Hey! I recognize you from Bellevue! How are you doing?” Cynthia smiled from ear to ear, and so did the villager. She had been part of a gang of bandits, recruited by force, and used as cannon fodder. Before Cynthia found that out, she had injured quite a few villagers when taking down the camp. Now, Cynthia made regular trips back to Bellevue. Both to apologize, and make sure their recovery was going well. The villager greeted her warmly, shaking her hand vigorously. She shouted pointedly and in rough sentences,

“Yes! Good to see you!” She bowed, “I joined the shepherds because of you. It was a long journey from Ferox. But it was worth it. You are a good influence, Cynthia.”

Cynthia felt her face warm up, “Aw! Thank you so much! You’re really impressive too, since you got this far!” She pumped a fist in the air, “I’m sure you’ll be a hero to rival me someday!”

“Yes! I will be!”

She waved as she left. As soon as she turned her head, she felt something small smack her in the back of her head. One of the women had thrown a flower. Cynthia dramatically spun in place to a chorus of laughs, then stuck the flower behind her ear. She waved again as she jogged up the convoy.

The chill morning air was warming up, it smelled like the fantastic pine trees lining their camp. Past the rest of the supply wagons, Cynthia stopped by the first of the weapon racks. She stood on her tip-toes, looked over, and caught Robin’s gaze. Cynthia waved with her entire arm.

“Robin! Hav e you seen Severa around?”

“What a coincidenc e, I was looking for her too. Did you want to walk with me?”

“Sure! Let me hop over there!” Cynthia put one leg on the weapon rack, and Robin immediately shouted,

“No, please don’t! Just go around!”

“Okay, sorry!” Cynthia trailed around the edge of the rack, “What’ve you been up to today?”

“Everything! It’d be easier to list stuff I haven’t done!” Robin counted on her fingers, “I didn’t read all the books I had to, I didn’t stroke my horse yet, and I skipped breakfast.”

“Ooh, let me try! You didn’t visit Ferox and you didn’t fight a bear!”

“Nope! I did the second one!”

“Aw, shoot!” Cynthia gave Robin a smile, “A metaphorical bear?”

“Well, a real bear in a metaphorical way. It was stealing some food, but I think we got it to leave us alone.”

“Yay! You fought bears so we don’t have to! You’re a hero!”

Robin was checking in the wagons and carts, and around the weapon racks, but kept glancing around. She jerked upright,

“Okay, I’m out of time. See you around, Cynthia! I hope you have fun with Severa!”

“I will! Did you want me to deliver a message?”

Robin cringed, “No, that’s fine. Thanks a lot!”

Cynthia waved as Robin left, then walked to the next cart in the line. Leaning against the front of the cart was Severa, who wiped her brow and gave Cynthia a small wave.

“Hey.”

“Hi Severa!” She smiled, “Wow, what a coincidence! I was just looking for you with Robin!.”

“Seriously? What did she want?”

“She wanted to say it in person! Did you just finish up here?”

“Yeah. I glared enough at the other soldiers that they left me alone, and guess what?” Severa flexed with one arm, “I loaded the whole cart by myself, and got the weapon racks ready. Easy-peasy.”

Cynthia clapped, “Great! It’s so thoughtful of you to free them up!”  
“What? No, uh, I just didn’t want them in my way!” Severa followed Cynthia around to the cart, “Well, whatever. why are you here?”

They hopped up onto back of the cart. Severa was wearing a plain brown dress with a light blue ribbon around her waist. She had a similarly-coloured ribbon in her hair, and her makeup was as impeccable as usual. Cynthia offered her hand, and Severa’s cheeks immediately went red.

“Cynthia? What are you doing?”

“Do you want to hold hands?”

“No.” Severa faced away, “But, uh, how’ve you been? We haven’t really talked much in the last few days.”

“Pretty good! I’ve been hanging out with the pegasi a lot more, I had a talk with my mom, and apparently I was doing a lot wrong.” Cynthia briefly hung her head, “But now my pegasus will love me even more!”

Severa smirked and turned back to face Cynthia. It might’ve been her imagination, but she might’ve inched closer too?

“You’re always so positive, gods! Don’t you worry about the years and years that you did something wrong?”

“Well, yeah, but then you gotta move on, and make the future better yourself!”

Severa shook her head and definitely smiled. It was slight, but definitely a smile. Cynthia pumped a fist behind her back.

“So what’s with the dress? You don’t usually wear those!”

“Cynthia! We’re in the military! I can’t just wear a dress to practice!” Severa poked Cynthia in the shoulder, “But it was also Cordelia’s fault. I was packing up, she heard me complain about not being able to wear a dress, and mentioned that I could get away with it today. And, well, she wasn’t wrong.”

“It looks good on you!”

Severa immediately turned away from Cynthia. She mumbled, “Thanks. It’s kinda sad that this is the only time I get to wear a dress. No fancy parties or moonlit soirees, nothing!” She took a deep breath, “And I haven’t seen you in a dress in like, eight years?”

She tensed up a bit, and mumbled “Well, y’know,”

“Sorry, still a sore subject?”

“No! It’s just…” Severa had turned to look at her with such a genuine smile that she just wanted to tell her everything that was on her mind. Out of everyone in the army, Severa was the closest thing to ‘traditionally’ feminine, since she did it on purpose. Cynthia desperately wanted to talk to her about dresses, some actual hair-care, and maybe even ask her about being transgender. But this was supposed to be about Severa! Not Cynthia’s curiosity! She just had to directly ask her, there was no point sneaking around it.

“I get it.” Severa reached a hand towards Cynthia, “But I’m here for you, don’t forget that!”

Cynthia let her hand rest on Severa’s. Severa eyed it, but didn’t move away. Cynthia’s chest fluttered at her expectant eyes, and barely smirking lips. She was going to totally ruin the mood with one sentence and she hated it so much already.

“Uh, actually, there was one thing I wanted to ask about.”

“Go on.”

“What was bothering you so much yesterday that you fell onto a tent?”

“Gods. I thought you forgot about that.” Severa buried her face in her hands.

“It’s okay, really! It wasn’t that weird! You’re just usually so coordinated!”

“Thanks. It was absolutely nothing. Nothing at all.”

Cynthia giggled, “Aw, you can’t even think up a good lie? Come on, Severa!”

Severa slumped over onto the cart. She let out a loud moan.

“Please? I really want to help!”

“Promise you won’t tell anyone.”

“Of course!” Cynthia nodded vigorously.

Severa leaned back up, then looked her in the eyes. Severa’s shoulders relaxed immediately, and she sighed again.

“Look, it’s kind of bad. Don’t judge me any more than you usually do.”

Cynthia smiled, “I’ve never judged you!”

“That’s a lie. Whatever. I should get this off my chest anyway.” She took a deep breath, then glared into the ground, “Okay, so Nah wanted to, uh, do personal stuff with me.”

“Uh, ‘Personal Stuff’? Like, braiding your hair?”

Severa’s entire face was slowly turning red, “No! I mean,” s he started making incomprehensible hand motions,  “You know?”

“No?”

“Okay, like, stuff you’d do for a lover, like, someone you really liked,”

“You made her breakfast in bed?”

Severa smushed her face with her hands, then mumbled, “Am I really going to have to come out and say it? Is Cynthia this dense?”

She spat out, “We had sex.” Severa glared into the distance.

“Nice!” Cynthia tried to give Severa a high-five,

“No! Not nice!” Severa shoved Cynthia’s hand back down to her side, “Because I didn’t want like, that much sex! She was all over me!”

Cynthia felt a pain in her chest, and consoled herself by nodding along.

“She kidnapped me in her dragon forme, and it was kinda hot, but then she wouldn’t leave me alone. She even wanted to bathe with me a few days ago. I tried to tell her that I was uncomfortable, but then she freaked out and ran away.” Severa sighed with her whole body. “I’m just never going to speak to her again.”

“Mind if I rub your back?”

Severa made a noncommittal noise, then turned her back to Cynthia. She put her hands on Severa’s shoulders, then started working her way down. Her muscles were all tense. Cynthia didn’t want to think badly about Severa, but avoiding everything like this was her reaction to every stressor. It would probably cool down by itself, but Cynthia was too curious to not check with Nah later. And besides, maybe snooping around will help! Cynthia pressed her face into Severa’s back.

“I’m so sorry you went through that! Did you just want to hang out for the rest of today?”

Severa leaned into Cynthia’s embrace, “You’re the best, Cynthia. Only if you want to stick around this boring wagon forever.” She motioned to the plain brown crates and canvas covering, “I’m the driver for this wagon.”

“Wow! A wagon all for yourself? Robin must really like you!”

There was a noticeable shift to her posture, “Robin doesn’t decide everything in this army! I told everyone who was supposed to work on it to leave.” Severa smirked, “I’m intimidating when I want to be.”

“You threatened them?! That’s so rude!”

Severa mock-shoved Cynthia, “Oh yeah? Got a problem with it?”

Cynthia gaped, leapt off the cart, “I do! And I’ll teach you some proper manners!” she reached behind her and grabbed a lance off the weapon rack, then twirled it in front of her, “Always say please and thank you!” She pointed the blunt end at Severa. She scoffed.

“That’s what you’re leading the fight with? Get a cooler catchphrase!”

Cynthia frowned, “I’m trying!”

Severa leapt off the cart and nearly hit Cynthia with a steel shield. Cynthia jabbed her with the blunt end of the lance. Severa fell over, but threw the shield. All the breath left Cynthia’s chest, and Severa was on top of her before she could raise her lance. Severa pinned her to the ground painfully with her knees and elbows,  and she was as smug as a squirrel finding an undefended food cache . She whispered,

“Say ‘please and thank you’ if you want me to let you up.”

Cynthia gasped, struggled against Severa, then sighed, and laid into the dirt.

“Please let me up?”

“And?”

“Thank you for letting me up?”

“Good girl.” Severa kissed her on the forehead. She eased herself off of Cynthia, then offered her a hand. Cynthia took it.

“Did you seriously threaten them to get the wagon all to yourself?!”

“Yeah. I mean, they didn’t really want to work on the wagon anyway. I just gave them extra motivation.”

Cynthia shook her head, “That’s still so villainous!” She clasped a hand to her chest, “I can’t believe I must conspire with such a rogue!”

“Sucks to be you.” Severa hopped back onto the wagon, “Feel free to hang out here once you’re done with whatever you’re supposed to do.”

“All I was assigned to do was pack up a wagon! I think I’m free for the rest of the day?”

Severa raised an eyebrow, “Did you remember to pack your stuff?”

“Yes!”

“Did you sharpen your weapon?”

“Uh, yeah!” Cynthia wasn’t entirely sure, but it couldn’t be that bad.

“What about your pegasus? How’s she doing?”

“Uh…” Cynthia paused to think, “Probably fine!”

Severa rolled her eyes, “Go check on your weird horse.”

“Excuse you! Blazer isn’t weird!” Cynthia bounced up to Severa, and rested her arms on her lap, “And I’ll be right back! I wouldn’t miss this for the world!”

Severa wouldn’t look directly at Cynthia, but there was a faint smile on her face, “Okay, weirdo.”

Cynthia waved goodbye, then made her way to the back of the convoy. Blazer would definitely like a visit, she should be tied up with the other pegasi. A thought struck Cynthia. It’d be like a daring rescue from boredom! She could steal Blazer, fly away, then return before noon. The breeze was nice, and the sky was clear. Cynthia looked up.

The three dragons were circling overhead. Cynthia’s thoughts went back to what Severa had said about Nah. There wasn’t anything too specific in there, besides the ‘sex’ part, and everyone knew that Severa was sensitive about that. Cynthia groaned, Nah just wasn’t very good at reading signals, she probably thought that Severa was super into it. It was just a little unlucky that they’re the ones that got together, but Cynthia could fix this. She pumped her fist in the air.

 

\--

 

Cynthia knew her pegasus would appreciate a few hours to fly outside of the convoy, and it also happened the be the best way to reach Nah. With an extra spring to her step, she bounced towards the front of the convoy.

Her horse was excited to see her. She headbutted Cynthia as soon as she was within range, then pulled at her reins. Cynthia leapt atop before the horse minder caught wind of her heist, then cut the ropes attaching her to the other horses. A few steps outside the convoy, and Blazer maneuvered into a full gallop. She spread her wings, and launched into the air. The horse minder shouted,

“Hey! Get back here!”

Cynthia stuck her tongue out.

The wind smacked her in the face, and Cynthia laughed as Blazer got up to speed. They soared into the sky, then banked to keep the convoy in their sight. It  was so tiny and cute from up her e, just a long line of wagons with some horses at the front. Their former camp was totally gone, the clearing they used was full of brown grass and wagon tracks. She had a few good memories there, just like every camp. There was a stump that she took a nap on, a pile of shredded grass that was probably where she trained with Kjelle, and of course the blackened former bonfire. It had been a good camp.

The dragons were still circling overhead, but as Cynthia looked a bit closer, she only noted two dragons instead of three. Cynthia whipped her head from side to side, looked behind her, and up in the sky. Maybe one had just gotten tired? She grabbed Blazer’s reins.

There was a cheerful shout from beneath her,

“Hey Cynthia!” Nah swooped up from below her, and Blazer dove to one side. Cynthia screamed.

Nah shouted, “Sorry!”

They dove far from Nah, and nearly clipped one of the trees. Cynthia was gentle on the reins, and Blazer calmed down. With a snort, she levelled out her flying, and Cynthia looked around for Nah. She was high above, but still watching Cynthia’s magnificent skills! Cynthia waved frantically at Nah, and directed Blazer to spiral into the sky. Soon enough, Nah started hovering around them. She shouted, her magically faraway voice barely travelling to Cynthia’s ears,

“Sorry! I just wasn’t thinking, I’m so sorry!”

“Oh yeah! No problem!” Cynthia smiled, “I should’ve just waved you down, but Blazer needed the exercise! How’s it going?”

Nah laughed, “How’s it going? Fine, I guess! My mom and Tiki had nearly roped me into some game, you were the perfect cover!”

It was impossible to ignore the huge, pink dragon sailing along right next to Cynthia.

“Thanks! How about your preparations? Are you all packed?”

“Ha!” Nah craned her long neck towards Cynthia, then whispered, “I didn’t have to do most of it!” She relaxed, “I just put my stuff in a crate, then Kjelle picked it up. She’s been super nice lately.”

“Wow! That’s fantastic! What’ve you been doing in the last couple of days?”

“I circled around camp a few times, I finished re-reading one of my favourite books, and Robin left me a new stack,” Nah curled her claws up, “But most of them are boring tactical manuals.”

“Oh! How did your date with Severa go?”

“Haha, date? What are you talking about?”

“Well, I saw you flying away after grabbing Severa, and now she’s acting weird.”

Cynthia leaned her head in and gave what she thought was a knowing look. Nah winced,

“Wow, you really know everything, don’t you?” She gave a wry smile, then put her tiny hands up, “Okay, you may not believe this, but I think I made a huge mistake.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I’ll spare you the details, but essentially, I made Severa really uncomfortable, and when she told me, I didn’t react in the… best possible manner. I mean, we were already doing a thing, and I sort of just assumed instead of letting her decide.”

Nah’s face was wrinkled. She glanced up at Cynthia, then away. Cynthia nodded and smiled,

“It’s always good to ask permission first! Even if you’re totally confident, it’s good to double check, right?” Cynthia took her hands off the reins to gesticulate, “Like, this one time, I was sure I got all the villagers out of this cave, but I checked again and there was another in the back! Boom! Total surprise!”

“Uh, Cynthia, maybe we should land!”

“Huh? Land? Why?”

Cynthia looked up to see trees racing past her instead of open air, and pulled up hard on Blazer’s reins. The pegasus braked perfectly, buffeting the air and reversing her momentum, and turned nearly vertically. Cynthia realized too late that she hadn’t tied herself to the saddle, and plummeted to the ground. She landed in a heap in the pine-covered floor and laughed. Nah floated above, then shouted,

“Did you want me to get your horse? She’s getting away.”

Cynthia waved her hands, “No! You’ll just scare her more! Thanks for offer, though!” She leapt up from the dirt, “She’ll find her way back to the convoy! Did you want to give me a lift?”

Nah swooped down into the clearing, she scattered pine needles with the wind under her wings. She looked like a fearsome beast, all scales and sinew. Cynthia raced over.

“Yes! You look so good today! Let me ride you!”

“WHAT?!” Nah put her tiny dragon hands up, “I mean, sure. Just hold on tight.”  She avoided eye contact with Cynthia.

The scales on Nah’s back were a lovely pink colour, and so textured and solid they looked like plates of armour. Cynthia remembered with a smile how she made friends with Nah: repeatedly asking her if she could have a ride. In retrospect, she should’ve tried something else first, but it ended up working eventually! Especially now! Cynthia hopped up onto Nah’s back, and eagerly climbed to her head. Nah protested,

“Hey!”

“Fly, my noble steed!”

Nah shrugged her neck, and rolled Cynthia off and into her waiting arms.

“Hah, you aren’t riding me that easily!” She flapped her wings, disturbing the tree litter surrounding them, “Shouldn’t you be a little more concerned about your pegasus? I would hate to see you lose her.”

“We could follow her back to the convoy to see if she’s returned yet! Just make sure not to approach in dragon forme!”

“Yeah, I know that.” The force of Nah’s flapping sent vibrations down from her huge shoulders. She held Cynthia flush against her chest. I t was like being hugged by twelve people at once, so she relaxed quickly . Cynthia nuzzled up against Nah’s scales.

Nah dove through the trees, then a bright flash transformed her.  Cynthia was being held by a now much-smaller dragon . She immediately dropped Cynthia on the group.

“How are you so heavy!”

“Oh! Nice!” Cynthia flexed, “I must be getting stronger!”

Nah marched on through the trees, “Hurry, I saw your pegasus land just a few yards ahead.”

“Okay, okay!” Cynthia hopped up and followed Nah through the thick pine forest. Just before the clearing, Nah was standing with her hands on her hips. Cynthia couldn’t see past her.

“There! Oh, shoot, you were right. She’s already lined up with the rest of the pegasi.”

Cynthia laughed, “See! Nothing to worry about! Did you want to join me in the cart I was going to hide in?”

“Uh, sure? Why were you hiding in a cart?”

They stepped out into the clearing. Blazer was still being tied to the others, but the horse minder wasn’t calm at all. They were pacing around and glaring into the trees. Cynthia made an involuntary noise and nudged Nah,

“Hey, let’s move faster!”

Nah looked from the horse minder to Cynthia, then whispered, “Did you steal your own horse?”

Cynthia started shoving her, “Move first, questions later!”

Nah cackled. They speed-walked away, and before they were out of earshot Cynthia whispered,

“Okay, so I may have snuck away with my horse!” She scratched the back of her head, “I just needed to chase you, and it’d take too long to get permission, so, I just left! I should probably go back and apologize, right?”

“Nope! No one needs to know!” She had a rather toothy smile, “You’re becoming more morally questionable by the day!”

Cynthia gasped, “No! That can’t be!” She turned around, “I’m going to apologize right now!”

Nah grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her back, “Okay no I’m sorry! You aren’t morally questionable! It was a joke!”

Cynthia groaned, and started pulling Nah back towards the horse area, “It’s so mean, though, it’s their entire job to watch after the horses, and I deliberately stole one!”

“It was for a good cause! Come on, Cynthia, I’m glad you came to talk with me!” She pulled a little harder, and Cynthia ground to a halt. She hid her face with both hands and sighed,

“But... “

“It wasn’t even that bad, Blazer probably appreciated the exercise!”

Cynthia nodded slowly. Maybe it was okay to just run off with Nah. But it really was morally ambiguous! Nah wasn’t wrong about that! She put her hands into fists and announced, quietly,

“Sorry Nah, I’m going to go apologize. It really was a rude thing of me to do.” She turned to smile at Nah, “Just wait here, I’ll be right back, okay?”

Nah visibly resisted sighing, then gave her a half-smile, “Fine! One thing, though.”

“Huh?”

“If the horse person yells at you, I’m gonna eat their face.”

Cynthia smiled, “Thanks for the support, but please don’t!”

She stepped over towards the horse minder, who had finally finished tying down everything. They sat on a wagon overlooking the horses, and waved at Cynthia as she approached. Cynthia waved back, then said,

“Hi! I am so sorry!”

“Was it your pegasus who went missing?”

“Oh yeah, I stole her while you weren’t looking, sorry again!” Cynthia bowed from where she stood. A simple response came back,

“Can I ask why?”

She held her chin, “Huh, I guess it was to cheer up a friend? Oh, and I wanted to let Blazer out.”

The horse minded nodded, “No trouble at all. You’re always trying to do something nice, aren’t you.”

Cynthia smiled, “Thank you so much! I’ll make it up to you later!”

The horse minder shook their head and waved as Cynthia turned around and returned to Nah. She would have to think up some good present to give the horse minder. Nothing horse related, probably. Ooh, everyone could use a good knife, or a new waterskin! Cynthia was still thinking up gift ideas when Nah tapped her on the face. She jumped,

“Ah! Hi, Nah!”

“Yeah, you looked absolutely spaced out. I didn’t think you were the type to stress out about compliments, what’s eating you?”

“Oh, I was just thinking about how I should make it up to them.”

They started walking up the line of wagons. Nah looked faintly amused. She said,

“You are the picture of pure goodness. I still can’t believe I thought you were trying to take advantage of me. You couldn’t trick a pig into doing anything for you.”

“I betcha I could trick it into eating some delicious pie!” Cynthia smiled.

“What? No, that doesn’t count. It wants to eat pie!”

“Aha, you’re just mad that I found a solution to your puzzle!” Nah did indeed get redder, but she still didn’t look terribly impressed, “I’ll show you later!”

Nah laughed, “Don’t worry, I believe that pigs would eat pie! Can we spend our tiny amount of free time doing something else?”

The wind picked up. Every autumn day like this was another opportunity for hanging out and having fun before winter arrived.  Cynthia was reminded that she had to bring up what she knew about Nah’s sex life. She cringed internally, she never liked being part of drama, but it was okay since she was trying to fix it, right? Cynthia checked Nah out. She looked comfortable. Nah shouldered her lightly.

“Whatcha thinking about? Not present ideas still, right?”

“Nope! I’m just going to go with a nice new waterskin. Everyone likes those!” Cynthia put a hand up to her chin, “Right now, I was thinking about you!”

“Oh really? What about me?”

Cynthia nodded, “You’re pretty cute!”

“Oh. Thanks.” Nah looked away, “So why were you hiding in a cart?”

“Not yet I wasn’t! I was  _ planning _ on hiding in a cart!” Cynthia pointed to a cart further up the path, “I knew it was gonna get cold, so I piled up some blankets, too!”

“Good thinking! I could always just light it all on fire, though.”

Cynthia slowly turned to Nah, “Wait. You can breathe fire?”

“Uh. Yeah.”

“That’s so cool! I thought you only had ice breath?! When did you get fire breath?!” Cynthia grabbed both of Nah’s shoulders, “Come on, you have to tell me everything!”

They moved quickly into the cart, strewn with blankets and quilts. Cynthia couldn’t stop asking questions,

“Did it come out in a line? A huge burst? Did you roast a hundred guys or a  _ thousand _ ?!”

Nah shook her head, “I didn’t roast anyone. I used my newfound fire powers to start a bath.”

“That’s still a good use! Still, can’t wait to see our enemies’ faces once you bring it out in battle!” Cynthia pumped her fist in the air, “It’s gonna be so cool!” She leaned in, practically on top of Nah now, “So how did it happen?! Were you so mad at your flint and tinder that you just lit it on fire? Did you feel a raging inferno growing in your chest?!”

“No, it was, less dramatic than that.” Cynthia practically deflated,  “How about I let you write that scene for my memoir?”

“Yes! We should start it now!” Cynthia turned around to attack one of the crates, “I think there was paper and parchment in one of these.”

“Uh, I’ve barely lived one percent of my life so far, Cynthia! It’d have an awful lot of volumes.” She cringed, “And you wouldn’t be able to write all of it. I’d have to commission other people.”

“Exactly! It’ll be a grand epic!” Cynthia splayed her arms in the air, “The epic of Nah!”

Nah scrunched her face up, “I don’t like thinking that far into the future anymore. My long life used to be sort of interesting, but…” Her eyes flicked up to Cynthia.

Cynthia took her hands, “Sorry, Nah! So what other breath powers do you think you’ll discover?”

“None? I was surprised enough when I started breathing fire, what else would there be?”

“Maybe you could eat a bunch of garlic and get really bad breath?”

Nah shook her head, “Yeah, that’d be super good in battle. Make the enemy slightly uncomfortable.”

“Unless you breathed really hard on one person! Then they’d  _ definitely _ be uncomfortable!”

Nah shook her head harder, “I am  _ not _ doing that.” Cynthia laughed.

Cynthia leaned back into one of the many patterned quilts. It was quite warm still, just a little bit past noon, and her secret hideaway was really cramped with two people. It was very, very cozy, and she liked being this close to Nah.  She tried to resist touching her as much as she wanted to . On the other hand, Nah hadn’t let go of her hands yet. It was a little romantic! Cynthia watched Nah settle into the cushions, and give her a tiny smile. Again, Cynthia loathed to disturb this sort of mood, but Nah needed to know how Severa felt. She pulled away from Nah, and caught the raised eyebrow that came with it. She said,

“We should at least try to recreate that magical scene where you discovered your destiny!” Cynthia pumped her fists in the air, “What if we uncover more breath types?!”

Nah narrowed her eyes and slumped against the cushions behind her. She mumbled,

“I don’t really want to talk about it.”

If Nah was this uncomfortable about something, then it had to be the one thing she wouldn’t tell Cynthia about. It had to be about Severa. Cynthia tried to put on a soft, presentable expression, and asked as politely as possible,

“Did it have anything to do with the, uh, ‘Thing’ you did with Severa?”

Nah let out a soft hiss. She murmured, “Yes…”

“I need to apologize to you, Nah.”

She was alert, “For what?”

“I was snooping around. You and Severa were acting sort of weird, especially around each other, and I got worried.”

“Oh,” Nah made a fake laugh, “Well, good thing it’s all over then, right? Nothing to see here!”

Cynthia moved a little bit closer to Nah, “I can tell when you’re uncomfortable, Nah. Is there anyway I can help?”

Nah mumbled something under her breath. She flicked her eyes up at Cynthia, “What, the snooping around wasn’t enough helping for you?”

Cynthia put her hands up, “I’m really sorry! All I did was ask Severa what happened!” Nah’s eye twitched, “She was upset, but mostly with herself. I don’t think she hates you, no matter what you did.”

Nah let out a loud sniff as she turned away from Cynthia, and faced the dark interior of the cart. She held one hand in front of her face, and the other one gripped the blankets underneath her. Nah cackled stiffly,

“What a trip this has been, huh? If you can still look me in the eye, then she didn’t tell you everything, did she.”

“Not exactly...” Cynthia’s voice trailed off. She wanted to comfort Nah, but she couldn’t think how. It was utterly paralyzing.

Nah’s voice cracked, “Well! She was crying once I left! I’m not even sure exactly what I did! Was it my tone? Did I say something wrong?” She cringed, “Was it the, uh, dragon-ness?”

“Maybe you just read her wrong!”

Nah turned around slowly, “What? ‘Read’ her?”

“Yeah! Severa’s not… great at communicating, but there’s always signs, y’know? Oh, and you’re pretty scary in dragon form! It’s not your fault, anyone would be intimidated by you.”

Nah curled up into the corner, “So you’re saying that I might’ve forced her into it.”

Cynthia nodded slowly, “But admitting what you did wrong is the first step to fixing it! Now you know what to apologize for.”

“Hmmph.” Nah’s brow was furrowed. She never took criticism particularly well, but this time she only looked a little mad. This was good enough for now. Cynthia wanted a reprieve from serious stuff, too. She smiled,

“Have you ever flown on a pegasus, Nah?”

Nah blinked, “Sorry? What?”

“A pegasus! They’re like horses with wings!”

“I know what a pegasus is!” She stretched her legs across the compartment, “Why would I want to ride on one, though? I can fly already.”

“Well, most people can walk, but we still travel on horses!”

Nah put a hand up to her head, “But, horses are beasts of burden, they can carry more than a person walking. Pegasi aren’t beasts of burden!”

“They can also carry you once you get tired! Just imagine,” Cynthia splayed her hands in the air as an example, “you’ve been on wing the whole day, and you’re worn and weary. But look! In the distance! A pegasus to save you the journey home!”

“If the pegasus was in the distance, then I doubt either of us would have enough energy to get to each other. There’s no reason for me to get on a pegasus.”

“Aw, you’re no fun! What if you just want to see what it’s like? I bet they don’t fly like you!”

“Yeah, I fly better.” Nah grinned, “But seriously, there’s no way you’d get me on a pegasus. If I’m going to fly, I’d rather it be my own wings that fail and drop me to the ground.”

“Oh yeah? I bet Blazer is a better flier than you!”

“The horse that dropped you just a couple of minutes ago? I’d be more concerned for your safety than my own victory.”

Cynthia cringed, “She’s usually better than that! I just forgot to strap myself in. It was my fault.” Her eyes lit up, “Wait, what if  _ you _ rode blazer? Then you’d see how good she is!”

Nah shook her head, “Okay, anyway,”

“She’s really friendly! I’m sure she’d like you!”

“Shush.” Nah crawled over and pushed Cynthia’s face away, “Let’s talk about literally anything else.”

“Oh! Sure!” Cynthia hummed for a bit. What topic would Nah like? Does she like talking about pies? Cynthia was still a little curious about why Nah was doing this. She said, “What made you want to do sex in the first place?”

Nah leaned back into the soft cushions. “Huh. That didn’t really occur to me. I guess it just sounded nice? I’ve read books where it happened, and it seemed kinda hot.”

“That’s as good a reason as any! You gotta try stuff you think is cool.”

“Unless it hurts someone else.” Nah nodded placidly. She’d feel guilty for a while, but that was okay. Maybe. Cynthia felt guilty, too, but she didn’t know why. She said,

“Don’t worry, Nah! Next time will be better! You’re a different person now.”

“Hm.” She cringed, “I hate to admit it, but my sexual desire hasn’t cooled down at all. That certainly hasn’t changed.”

Cynthia looked Nah up and down. She was holding herself in an odd manner. Her legs were crossed, and she was situated as far from Cynthia as possible. There was a certain softness from the light shining through the cart’s canopy. Cynthia couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. And this was a problem she could help to solve. Cynthia croaked out,

“I was wondering, would you want to do it with me, instead?”

“Hah, Cynthia, you don’t have to sacrifice yourself to the big, scary dragon.” She rubbed Cynthia’s hand, “I understand what you’re saying. I won’t bother Severa like that again.”

Cynthia held her hand, then switched to a sheepish smile , “Oh, it wasn’t as like, a trade or anything, I just think it’d be fun to do it with you!”

Nah’s eyes widened. She looked Cynthia up and down, “Uh, what?”

“Yeah! As long as you’re comfortable with it!”

Nah stammered, “You… you can do that?”

“Uh, yeah? Isn’t that what sex is for?”

“I… guess? Are you sure that’s okay?”

“Yes?”

“Have you even had sex before?” Nah looked a little put out, but also curious. She was still a little defensive, but this is exactly why Cynthia had wanted to have this conversation. The best way to lower someone’s guard is to lower your own guard first!

“Uh huh, only a few times before, but that’s enough experience, right?”

Nah shrugged, “I dunno. I think I’m still in shock thinking of you, Cynthia, as a being capable of any kind of lustful thoughts.”

“Well, I don’t really have those, I guess? Like, I didn’t start it either time we did it, but it was fun while it lasted!”

“That’s the purest description of sexual intercourse I’ve ever heard.” Nah took a deep breath, then crawled over to Cynthia, “Fine. You’re an absolute snack if I’ve ever seen one.”

“Aw! Thanks!” Nah grabbed her arm, held her face, then bit her cheek, “Ow! Ow, you meant that literally?!”

Nah made a happy, rumbling sound, then released herself from Cynthia’s cheek, “Yeah, if I were in my dragon forme, I’d show you exactly what I did to Severa.” She licked her lips. Cynthia’s heart was pounding. She airly giggled,

“Ahaha! Maybe we can stick to human-forme relations for now?” She gave a very sweet smile, and Nah backed off a little.

“Yeah, especially if we don’t want to leave your hidey-hole. It’s actually super nice.”

“Thanks!” Cynthia removed herself from Nah’s grasp, “Actually, I hate to say it, but I think I’m going to take charge here!”

“Oh? You think?” Nah clawed up at her, but she didn’t fight Cynthia when she leaned her down into the pillows. Cynthia nodded gently, then pinned Nah’s arms down. She said,

“No, you’re right. I don’t think.” She smiled, Nah giggled, “I know!”

“It sounded like you were about to say that you just don’t think at all. That’d be pretty accurate too, right?”

“Aw! That’s mean!” Cynthia pouted, “I think about stuff!”

Nah smiled, “Yeah, sorry! Anyway, what was your plan?”

“Right!” Cynthia moved her hands to Nah’s shoulders and massaged them briefly, “Where were you working today? I didn’t see you until like, just now!”

Her hands moved down to Nah’s sides to squeeze them. Nah tried not to giggle,

“Uh, I was, ah, working with ha-” she burst out laughing, then tried to shove Cynthia’s hands away. Cynthia cackled, and started tickling a different part of her, “I’m ticklish there too! Agh! Ahaha!”

“I know! It’s so nice that you’re the most ticklish in the army!”

“NO! It isn’t!” She was caught halfway between smiling and glaring. Cynthia moved away from her sides, and lifted up Nah’s white lace skirt.  Her underwear was pink and utterly adorable, just like the rest of her! Cynthia rubbed her palm over it, then grabbed one of Nah’s hands with hers. Nah gasped, then pursed her lips and glared as hard as she could.

“You were trying to shock me-” She inhaled sharply, “Into submission! This was your plan-” She glared and wiggled around, “All along! I knew you couldn’t resist me!”

“Yup! You’re sweet as candy!” Cynthia leaned in for a kiss. Nah practically leapt up to meet her, she grabbed the side of Cynthia’s face and pulled her close. It was an overwhelming kiss, Cynthia stopped rubbing Nah for the whole thing. They parted with a gasp,

“Nah! That was really good!”

“Thanks?”

“Yeah! You should be proud!”

“Okay, can we keep going though? It was just getting good!”

“Right!” Cynthia went back to getting her off with gusto.  She pulled Nah close as she worked.  Nah tried to return the favour, but couldn’t work out how to undo Cynthia’s belt. She shivered down her entire length, and clawed up at Cynthia.  Cynthia responded with a gentle kiss, then pounced her into the blankets.  Cynthia giggled and nuzzled Nah’s face,

“Calm down, Nah! It isn’t that big of a deal, just relax!”

Nah stage-whispered, “This is the second time ever that I’ve actually had sex and you’re telling me to,” she gasped as Cynthia picked up the pace, “Agh! Calm down?!”

“Yeah! It’s no fun if you don’t enjoy it, right?”

She let out a large sigh, and her shoulders sank just a little. Fantastic! What Cynthia still didn’t get was why Nah was so excited about sex. Like, yeah, it was fine, but not fantastic?  Cynthia focused on Nah, and felt Nah’s body convulse beneath her. She let out a muffled cry, and Cynthia made sure to gently cover her mouth. Cynthia nibbled on her collarbone through her dress, but the soft fabric uncomfortably muffled her mouth. Nah laughed,

“Are you just licking my collarbone? What are you doing?”

“Some people are sensitive there! You gotta experiment!”

“Oh, seriously?” Nah narrowed her eyes, “Wait, how much experience do you have with this?”

“Not that much! I’ve only done it with, uh,” Cynthia counted on her fingers, “Kjelle, Morgan and you!” She whispered, “And was getting close to Severa, but you beat me to it!”

Nah sighed and slumped into the blankets. She looked into the far distance. There was a palpable silence, and Cynthia cuddled up to Nah’s side.

“Do you think she’ll forgive me?”

“She won’t be mad at you forever!” Cynthia gave her a pat on the shoulder, “Just wait and give her some space!”

“You’re so optimistic.  Thanks a bunch, Cynthia. ” Nah stood up, “I don’t think I’m going to follow your advice. I’m going to follow your example.” She moved the curtain aside and leapt out.

“Nah?! Wait!”

Cynthia hopped out of the cart after her, and felt a mighty blast of wind. An emerald-accented, pink-toned dragon hurled herself up into the midday sun. She was moving up the convoy. Cynthia ran after her, but kept herself from shouting or wildly waving her arms. Nah wouldn’t respond to any of that anyway. The convoy started to move. Cynthia hadn’t been paying attention to any of the departure times. The rows of lances, huge carts, and uncooperative horses suddenly seemed much more intimidating.

Nah was already spiralling down. She must’ve already known where Severa  was, or something!  Cynthia hopped around a few confused soldiers, and broke out into a sprint. When she looked up again, Nah was flying somewhere else. Cynthia nearly paused, this might give her just enough time! Severa’s cart was just seven more in front of her, and it looked like Nah had already passed it. The carts she had passed were moving slowly, but the ones near the front were already at a brisk marching pace. Soldiers surrounding them weren’t necessarily looking out for passers-by. Cynthia shouted,

“Coming through! Pardon me!”

Most people got out of her way, but one person didn’t notice until too late. Sumia tried to jump out of the way, but ended up flailing her lance into Cynthia legs. Sumia shouted,

“No! I’m so sorry!”

Cynthia dropped to the ground and rolled to a stop. She waved and said,

“Hi mom! I’m sort of in a hurry,” Sumia reached down to give her a hand, “But it’s good to see you!”

“Aw, you too! Off to save someone?”

Cynthia cringed, “I… don’t know, I think I already messed it up somehow.” She jumped up, “Anyway, bye!”

“Cynthia, if you want to talk about it, I’m always willing to listen.” She smiled like a dozen suns. Cynthia made a small screeching noise, and bounced on her toes just a little bit away from Sumia. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. One of the soldiers she didn’t know said,

“Hey, did you just call the queen ‘Mom’? Who are you, exactly?” Cynthia saw him furrow his brow.

She immediately laughed, “Aw, what a slip of the tongue! Sumia just feels so motherly, you know?”

The soldier glared at her, “No, that’s entirely inappropriate.”

Sumia stepped between the two, “Well, that’s too bad! Cynthia is a member of our army, and her feelings are valued, too.” She took Cynthia’s arm, “I think of all of you as my family. Please, don’t be rude!”

The man turned away, a little embarrassed. Cynthia couldn’t help but smile. A few of the other soldiers nodded sympathetically. Sumia curtseyed, then took Cynthia behind one of the carts. She whispered,

“I’m so sorry about that! I wish I could tell them how perfect my younger daughter is, too, but I’ll be sure to make up for it once the war’s over.” She smiled.

“Aw! Thanks a lot! I think you’re perfect too, mom!”

“What’s troubling you, Cynthia?”

Cynthia jerked back into awareness. She looked up into the sky. Nah was nowhere to be seen. She put her face up to her hands and whimpered,

“I have to go, but, Nah and Severa were… are? Fighting, and I tried to help and I might’ve made to worse, but,” Cynthia pointed towards the front of the convoy, “I should probably get over there!”

“Oh, I’m sorry!  I hope it works out! I love you!”

“I love you too!”

Sumia waved, and Cynthia tried to return the wave as she ran.  She ended up running badly, and tripped over her own feet . Sumia stopped waving to hide her expression. Cynthia got up with a grand flourish, and curtsied using her tunic. She turned and ran.

 

\--

 

Severa’s cart was unadorned and identical to the others, so Cynthia just peeked around at the front of the carts to see who was driving them. They were moving, so she nearly tripped every time. It was hard work, but the thought of Severa punching Nah in the face motivated her to run just a little faster. She heard some familiar voices up ahead, and ran in front of the cart.

Severa and Nah were sitting on the edge of the cart together, talking idly about something. Cynthia pumped her fist. It definitely wasn’t anything she did, but they seemed to be getting along again! Mission indirectly accomplished! She let the cart drive past her, and fell back into the convoy. The secret hidey-hole she made in her cart was already calling to her. She could practically hear it on the wind,

“Cynthia? Hey!”

It sounded very close, and loud, and shrill, and-

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

Someone grabbed her shoulder, and she was spun around to face a mildly perturbed Severa,

“Weren’t you following after Nah?!”

Cynthia stammered, “It looked like you two were doing okay! Did something go wrong?”

“No, but we still want you around!” Severa rolled her eyes, “Gods, get a clue! And get up on my cart, I doubt Nah knows how to drive it.”

Cynthia smiled weakly, “Are you sure it’s no trouble? I don’t think I really contributed much.”

“What  didn’t you contribute to ?” Severa glanced behind her at the steadily-leaving cart, “Whatever, let’s just go!”

“Sorry!”

Severa practically pulled her onto the cart with Nah. Nah was holding the reins like they were live snakes, and immediately threw them to Severa. She screeched,

“Ugh! Don’t make me deal with horses again!”

Severa scoffed, “Oh, you can eat them, but not treat them humanely? How does that not surprise me, giant dragon girl?”

“Oh, shut up.” Severa cackled at her, and Nah shoved her over a little. Cynthia hid behind her hands. It was so much worse than she thought. Cynthia’s voice cracked a little,

“You two are still fighting?!”

Severa cringed and stared into the horses, “No, no, we’re just messing around!” She patted Nah’s shoulders, “We really couldn’t have given you a worse introduction, sorry.”

Cynthia sighed with her entire body, “Oh, good! I really was worried for you.”

“That was never uncertain. You’re pretty obvious with your emotions. Have I already compared you to an adorable puppy dog?”

“Just now!” Cynthia laughed, Nah giggled, and Severa just shook her head. She barked,

“Nah, I have some bad news for you. You didn’t actually mess up the horses.”

“Dang.”

“Yeah. It turns out that you’re totally competent. What a shocker.”

Nah rumbled to herself, “I know that was sarcastic, but that’s still rude.”

“Yeah! You should breathe fire at Severa!”

“NO! Do not do that! Evil Cynthia!” Cynthia giggled, Nah licked her lips. She spoke in a sultry voice,

“I wouldn’t mind some barbequed Severa…”

“She’s sweet and salty!”

Nah nodded, “She really is, I tasted her earlier.”

“Could you please not brainstorm the best way to eat me?” Severa clamped onto the reins, “Whatever! There was something Nah and I were discussing. Cynthia, you promised to hang out with both me, at the front of the convoy, and Nah, at the very back of it!”

“Yeah, seriously Cynthia, what was your plan if I hadn’t decided to run after Severa? Were you going to leave me halfway through the night to sleep with your other lover?”

Cynthia gasped and slid backwards an inch, “I would never!”

“So you were just going to abandon me forever? Leave me in the lurch?” Severa had a biting tone that really caught Cynthia in the chest. She knew they were messing with her, sort of. She said,

“I… I didn’t even think about it! I’m so sorry, you two!” She hugged both of them.

Severa cackled, “That’s the Cynthia we love!” She mumbled something, and Nah raised an eyebrow. Cynthia said,

“I’m so glad you’re really friends again! What happened?”

“Ugh, she was just so pathetic, sniveling on the bench, that I had to forgive her.”

“Hey!” Cynthia had to swing her head all the way around to see Nah’s glare, “I didn’t ‘snivel’ whatever that means, I spoke clearly and eloquently!”

“Then you cried.”

Cynthia gasped, “There’s no shame in crying! That’s very rude, Severa!”

“I’m just saying!” Severa grinned, “But yeah, it was an okay apology.”

“Thank you, Severa. But Cynthia’s right! Crying’s fine!” Nah crossed her arms, “I actually read a while ago that you can cry from many emotions, not just sadness.”

“Whaaat? So if you get too happy, you could cry?”

“Cynthia, how are you surprised? You probably cry the most!”

“No I don’t!”

“Yeah, Brady cries way more.” Nah paused, “Much, much more than Cynthia.”

“Oh my gosh, yeah, I heard from Inigo that he cried just ‘cause he was  _ thinking _ about snakes.” Severa shook her head, “Out of all the creatures, too. Snakes are like, associated with treachery and stuff.”

“That’s so unfair! I never thought about it, but they’re just normal animals, right?” Cynthia furrowed her brow and gesticulated wildly, “They don’t need to be demonized or hated. We could change people’s perspectives with a grand presentation! And we have the perfect example right here!” She pointed at Nah.

Nah growled, “I’m not a snake! I’m a dragon! Dragons are way cooler than snakes! We have wings, for one.”

“There’s probably a type of snake with wings. How superior are you after that?”

“Oh! Venom! Nah, do you have venom?” Cynthia eagerly smiled at Nah.

She seemed to be trying to grind her own teeth into powder. Nah shouted, “Well, I’m way bigger than a snake! What about that! Oh, and I can breath fire! I could roast a dozen snakes at once!”

“Yeah, but would anyone want to eat the meat afterwards?”

“NOT THE POINT!”

Cynthia raised her hand, “Ooh, I would! I’m sure you’d do a good job roasting a snake, Nah!”

“See! There’s one!”

“Cynthia doesn’t count, she’s too positive. If you could make rain from smiling, she’d be a constant thunderhead.”

Severa nodded sagely. Nah stated,

“What? Was that a metaphor?”

“Yes?”

“No, isn’t that a simile?”

“How do you know what a simile is?”

Severa shouted, “No, it’s a metaphor! I compared Cynthia,” Severa pointed at Cynthia, “To rain,” Severa pointed up at the sky, “Without using like or as!”

“Yeah, isn’t that a simile?”

“No!”

“Well, you didn’t seem very confident about it last time I asked you, Severa!” Nah smiled daintily.

“Because I didn’t expect to get interrogated! What’s your problem! Are you going to bite my hands off? Chew my knees into powder? Swallow me whole, again?”

“I didn’t  _ swallow _ you!” Nah stood up on the bench, “In fact, I can show you what swallowing looks like!”

Severa stood up, and stammered, “Oh y-yeah? Bring it!”

Cynthia stood up between them, and put her hands up, “Wait! First, don’t eat Severa, Nah!” She scrunched her face up, “Second, you swallowed Severa?”

“Okay I didn’t swallow her, I just set her in my mouth for a while!”

“Her tongue was so wet and slimy! It was disgusting!”

“My tongue is a normal tongue! And I didn’t swallow her! She was just in my mouth for, like, two seconds!”

They were both still shouting. Cynthia shrank down to coax them back onto the bench, then said, in a normal tone,

“Wait, so you ate Severa out? I thought it was called the other thing because of her-”

Nah shouted, “YES. That’s EXACTLY what we were talking about! Nothing else! Nothing at all!”

“Oh come on! She already knows pretty much everything, what’s the point of lying more?”

“Sorry?”

Severa sat down next to Cynthia. She sighed heavily, then said, “Okay, Cynthia, try not to freak out when I tell you this, but Nah and I did some weird stuff together. Stuff that I don’t think you want to know about yet.”

“Oh! That’s what Nah was talking about!” Cynthia whispered, “She turned into dragon form and swallowed you, right?”

Severa’s face turned as red as her hair. She turned around to the back of the bench and muttered, “No! No! No!”

Cynthia grabbed the reins.

“Nah, that’s not quite what happened.” Nah sat down next to her, “I just held her in my mouth for a bit. She nearly came right there and then.”

Severa screamed into the backrest. It looked like she was chewing on it. Cynthia giggled,

“Are you okay, Sev?”

Severa kept muttering to herself, then nearly took Cynthia’s head off when she swung a finger at Nah. She sputtered, “T-that’s not even what happened! You were an active participant too!”

Nah smiled, “Oh? How, exactly? Could you describe where I touched you?”

“Gods! I hate you so much!” Severa turned back to face the cart.

“Sorry.” Nah looked like she just ate a lemon, “That must’ve been uncomfortable for you.”

Severa glared into the cart, but she was a little less tense. Cynthia kept quiet.

“I thought it’d be exciting, but I really did hurt you. I’m sorry for bringing it up again.”

Nah gulped.

“No. That’s fine. But do keep the apologies coming.” Severa looked away, “Not like, right now!”

“I get you. Next time, I’m going to specifically ask for consent. Not just assume it. Aha, of course, assuming there is ever a next time!” 

“You did pretty good at asking me for consent!” Cynthia smiled. Nah glared at her as if she just transformed into an octopus. Severa jerked around, then whispered,

“Did you two have sex right before coming here?” She looked stern. Nah stammered,

“Uh, just a little.”

Severa nodded. It was calculated, a long stretch where she just analyzed the two of them. Nah resisted coughing, Cynthia glanced from one to the other. She eventually stated, “Oh, thanks for taking the reins, Cynthia.”

“Yeah! No problem! Nah was pretty distracting.”

“That’s very typical for Nah. How did she seduce you?”

“Uh, I just asked?”

Severa glared at Nah. Nah shrugged and nodded. Severa leaned back into the bench, “You’re really going to treat this so casually?! It’s a big deal! You can’t just jump like twenty steps into a relationship right off the bat!” She pounded on her hand, “You gotta, like, do romantic stuff first! Like, candlelit dinners, dressing up nicely, taking the sticks out of your hair-” Severa reached into Cynthia’s hair.

Cynthia batted Severa away with one hand,  “Hey! What if I meant to put those sticks there!”

“You didn’t notice this either, Nah?! See, that’s what you need me around for.” She stopped wrestling with Cynthia. Her gaze was still all over Cynthia, so she smiled pleasantly. Next, she stated,

“What about why? Why did you want to do it with Nah?”

“I figured, if she was  _ that _ horny, there was something easy I could do about it, right?” Cynthia smiled, “And it was pretty fun! I have a lot of experience now, Severa.” Cynthia winked at her three times in a row, just to make sure she’d get it.  She could be here for Nah and Severa if they wanted her . Severa made a low screeching noise,

“How could you say that. Cynthia, I love you, but you are the least sexual person on this entire planet.”

“What, do you want her to act like Inigo?”

Severa shouted, “NO! GODS NO.”

Cynthia handed the reins over to Nah, who grabbed them before she realized what was happening. Cynthia put up one finger to make her maybe wait for a few seconds, then stood up on the bench. She gesticulated with both hands, then announced,

“Severa, my delicate rose! My orchid-of-many-feathers! I could hardly compare you to a bright summer’s day, for you are far brighter!” She extended a hand to a mortified Severa, “Now, would you join me on a totally-platonic date to drink leaf juice?”

“If you we even a touch more convincing I would throw you into the sun.”

Cynthia twirled in place, “Ah, it would be an honor to be merely touched by your scrumptious hand! What delicate fingers, and muscle-filled bodice you must possess!”

“Can you even hear yourself?!” Severa was smiling, “That’s the worst impersonation I’ve ever heard!”

“Yeah, that was pretty awful. It sounded more like you wanted to eat Severa.”

Severa glared at Nah, “Hey, just because that’s what  _ you _ want to do…”

“Oh yeah, I did call her hand ‘scrumptious’. What word would he use instead?”

“I don’t care. Sit down before you trip and die.”

“Maybe ‘luscious’? You could describe everything like that. Luscious lips, luscious eyes, luscious fingers.”

“No, vocabulary like that is out of his range. Can we talk about anything else?”

“Okay. There was something that I needed to ask both of you about.”

“That’s scary. What’s up?”

“So what are we?” Nah’s expression was absolutely neutral. She stared right past Cynthia, and had relaxed into her spot. She wasn’t even tense with the reins. Severa snorted and said,

“Uh, two and a half humans. Next question.”

Cynthia laughed, “Wow, I never thought about that before!”

Nah rolled her eyes, “No, I meant seriously. Severa.”

Severa and Nah seemed to be having a staring match over Cynthia’s head, but neither of them looked tense. Cynthia could not be more confused. She turned to Nah,

“Wasn’t that a serious answer? We’re both, probably, one hundred percent human, and you’re fifty-fifty, right?”

“Yeah, but that’s not what I mean.”

Severa tensed up. She backed up a little. Cynthia groaned,

“Is this another thing that only you two know about?” She slumped back into the bench, “Should I keep out of the way?”

Severa muttered, “Oh no, this is very relevant to you.”

Nah smiled at Cynthia, but it wasn’t her usual knowing smirk. She looked relaxed, confident, and absolutely entranced for that second. Then she added, “Yeah.”

Severa looked excited and hesitant. Sort of her typical state of being! She was also easing her way away from Cynthia. At least they weren’t fighting! Unless this is how they were going to fight from now on? Cynthia’s brow furrowed. Nah barked,

“This isn’t getting us anywhere. We both agree that we love Cynthia.” She narrowed her eyes at Severa. Cynthia looked over expectantly. Severa sputtered,

“Y-yeah. But it’s not that  _ simple _ , there’s stuff that has to be done, there’s a whole process-”

“As if! I’ve never read anything about a process to start dating someone!”

“Wait, Severa!” Cynthia’s heart was pounding, and she knew she was turning redder, “I love you too! Sorry! I had to say it!”

“Thanks.” Severa’s voice cracked, and she refused to look anywhere near Cynthia.

Cynthia turned to Nah, “And I love you too!”

“Aw, I love you too, Cynthia, but I’m currently grilling Severa, so-”

“Could you like, cool the grill a little? Severa looks very uncomfortable.”

“Haha, I’m not uncomfortable!” Severa said, her shoulders bunched to her ears.

“Okay, fine, just one last thing.” Nah sighed, then stated, “ Severa. I think you already know what you want us to be.” Nah crossed her arms, “I want it, Cynthia wants it, and I feel like you do too.” 

Severa smiled, “Well, that’s settled then! If you know everything, then I don’t have to say anything! Bam!”

“Yeah!” Cynthia gave her a high-five.

“What?! No! You can’t just let her off that easily!”

“Sure I can! That’s what being a hero’s about! I like making things easy for other people!” Cynthia puffed up her chest and offered a hand to Severa. Then she whispered, “Also, could you  _ please _ explain exactly what you’re both talking about? I still don’t quite get it!”

Severa took a deep breath, then quickly said, “Nah wants to know if we’re dating or not.”

“Ooh, that makes a lot more sense now.” Cynthia nodded. Severa was touchy about this stuff, no wonder she didn’t want to just blurt it out!  Cynthia could see Severa growing more uncomfortable, and Nah getting more worked up.  They needed a relaxed mediator. She took a deep breath, then nearly jerked to the side as Nah spat out,

“But we can’t just start dating with such a meek entrance!”

“Well, I can!” Cynthia relaxed, and tried to give Nah a comforting smile. She felt Severa put a hand on her side. Nah winced,

“Oh. Right.” She slumped over on the bench, then whispered, “Don’t you want Severa to grow as a person? To become more open with her feelings?”

“Of course! But you don’t need to force her.”

“I’m sorry, Severa.” Nah pouted a little. 

Cynthia leaned away from Severa, and offered a hand to hold instead. Severa took it.

She took a deep breath, “For what it’s worth, Nah. I do want to date you. And Cynthia.”

Nah opened her mouth and put a hand up, then sharply exhaled and put her hand down. She mumbled, “That’s all I wanted to hear.”

“Right, that’s every single thing. Silly me. No, it isn’t!” Severa raised her voice, and leaned towards Nah, “You want to hear me say, uh, that I like you a bunch, and you want to hear me say exactly why. You want validation.” She sighed, and reached a hand out to her, “Can you trust me when I say that I’ll get there? I’m not gonna do that today though.”

Nah took her hand and shook it. She was smiling, “It’s a deal. Partner.”

“Oh shut up! You tricked me!” Severa pulled her hand away, Cynthia giggled, “You know, this means that you have to deal with me forever, too!”

“That’s fine too! Severa, I love you!”

Severa turned bright red. “Anway. We were probably talking about something else.”

“So does that mean we’re officially dating?”

Nah nodded, “Yeah! I mean, right, Severa?”

“You know what.” Severa smacked her knees, “Fine. It’s been a long enough day.”

“Yes!”

“Nice!” Cynthia went for another round of high-fives.

 

\--

 

The moon sat high in the sky. It was chilly outside of the cart, but Cynthia had been kind enough to lend her a blanket. Despite the fact that she was still working, unlike either of them, she was comfortable in the knowledge that both of her girlfriends were warm. Huh. Girlfriends. They were her girlfriends. She giggled. That term felt so new, and yet cozy at the same time. She’d get used to it quickly. Maybe she’d try to torment Severa by calling her pet names in public. Nah grinned, no, she’d absolutely have to do that. She adjusted her grip on the reins and slouched in the cart’s front seat. It was relaxing. She realized with a start that Severa was completely right. She was competent with these horses. Dang.

Robin walked by the cart, towards the front of the convoy, and glanced at Nah for a second. Nah smiled at her. 

“Wasn’t this Severa’s cart? I heard that she scared off the soldiers who were assigned to it.”

“Hah! She can’t scare us away!” Nah bared her teeth, “But yeah, now that you mention it, it was kinda weird that she was all alone. What did she do to them?”

“No clue! I was just double-checking the unit positions, and there were a few extra people milling about. Can I join you up there?”

“Sure, help yourself.” Nah scooted over on the bench, which wasn’t really necessary, but it felt more polite. She glared at the horses to make sure they wouldn’t move. 

“And soldiers loitering around isn’t exactly unusual, but a few told me that Severa wanted to load a whole cart by herself.”

“Ugh, seriously? What a try-hard. I didn’t even load any carts today, it was super relaxing.”

“Oh? You didn’t? You were assigned to.” Robin leered pointedly. Nah laughed extremely poorly, then squeaked out,

“Haha! Just kidding! I helped Kjelle load… uh, a few crates. And now I’m helping Severa with her cart, so that’s a job that I’m doing.”

Robin stopped glaring, thankfully, but she still looked plenty amused. Maybe she thought that was funny? She said,

“Of course you did.” Robin pointed at the horses, “How’s driving? Have you ever done this before?”

“Nope! Cynthia just gave me a brief rundown of how to… uh, operate the horses, but this my first time.” She lowered her voice to a whisper, “Between just us two, this is like, really, really easy. Like, I’m just sitting here. The horses know what to do.”

Robin grinned, “Yeah, our horses are really well trained. Sully and Sumia’s skills alone could tame a thousand wild horses, and the rest of the army is good about following their example.”

“Huh. I guess I never really noticed that.” She shrugged, “Makes a lot of sense, there has to be some reason for all these drills.”

“Well, those drills don’t cover grooming, bonding time, and everything else that an army wouldn’t necessarily think about. Take Cynthia: her mount is extremely well bonded to her, they’re practically one unit when they’re flying together.” She grinned, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she felt more at home on her pegasus than she did on her own two legs.”

Nah grinned, “I just saw her fall off her pegasus, are you sure about that?”

“The exception proves the rule, right? And she’s certainly competent in battle. She’s just like her mom in that regard.”

“The phrase ‘the exception proves the rule’ means that it  _ tests _ the rule, not that it actually proves it.” Nah looked down her nose at Robin.

“Aha, you sound like Miriel. What’ve you been reading lately? I know you’re at least as much a bookworm as me.”

“Don’t compare you and I!” Nah waved her finger, “You’re on a different level! I’ve seen you clean out a library after just a couple of trips!”

Robin looked like she was going to contest it for a second.  She laughed, “You got me there.”

“But yeah, I’ve been reading these romance novels. Did you know they make whole series out of that stuff?” She coughed, “Nothing too inappropriate!”

Robin leaned in, “Oh? So, presumably, you wouldn’t mind sharing which books you read with me?”

“Geez, I can’t seem to remember the titles right now!” Nah looked away, “Anyway, what about you? Is it all boring, tactical treastises on your side?”

“Mostly. I do have my fair share of guilty pleasures too, Nah. You aren’t alone in that.”

“Thanks.” Nah tried not to think about how deeply weird some of her fetishes were.  Robin was looking at her very attentively, and she was thinking about how hot voring Severa was.  She stammered, “Ahaha, anyway, what brings you up here? Were you just investigating Severa’s latest exploits?”

“No, I was doing a check-up on the entire convoy. It’s night. If anyone wanted to ambush us, now would be the time.”

Nah froze, “Wait, you aren’t really worried about that!” She looked past Robin into the dark night behind her. If someone shot her with an arrow, would her screaming wake up Severa and Cynthia in time? She stammered, “You’ll protect me if that happens, right?!”

Robin smiled, “Of course! Do you have your dragonstone nearby?”

“Yeah, but do you see how dark it is?” Nah pointed to the treeline, “Anyone could be hiding in there!”

“Don’t worry. We have a dozen people on watch, and we’ve been through three wars. Nobody could be more prepared than the shepherds.”

“Thanks.”

“And don’t you have Severa and Cynthia to help you keep guard? There’s no company more secure than people who like you.”

Nah growled, “Not if they’re sleeping soundly! They’re about as hard to wake as a pair of rocks.”

“How about I give you one of my tomes? That way, you’ll have a weapon at the ready if you don’t have time to get out your dragonstone.”

Robin brought out a small red book. Nah snatched it from her hands,

“Yeah! That’s perfect! Wait, but then I’ll only have one hand for the reins.”

“What about this? You put the tome,” Robin picked up the book, “Right here!” and put it on her lap so it was leaning against her chest, “That way, it can block one arrow.” She smiled.

“Hm. Better.”

“So what  _ have _ you been doing today, besides your job? The job that you one hundred percent completed?” Nah was not enjoying Robin’s smug grin.  This secret would just have to remain between the two of them.  She stammered,

“Well, very important conversations, of course. I talked with Cynthia and Severa, and we made a lot of progress. And by that, I mean Severa isn’t mad at me anymore.”

“Why was Severa mad at you?”

Nah could feel her throat tighten, “Aha, no reason! Besides, we made up earlier.”

“Is that why I heard shouting from the front of the train?” Robin grinned from ear to ear, “You were very hard to ignore.”

“Aha… Just curious, how much did you hear exactly?”

“I definitely heard you threaten to eat Severa, then you three got very quiet.”

Nah slumped into the bench and let out a loud groan. She kept her hands outstretched so the horses wouldn’t notice. Robin laughed,

“Hey, I know you were just messing around. No need to feel embarrassed about the people you like. Young love is very intense, especially when you just start dating.”

Nah narrowed her eyes, “Wait, how do you know that I’m dating them?”

“You just told me!” Robin smirked, “I’ll admit, that was mostly a guess.  You’ve been hanging out with Severa lot more often, haven’t you?”

“Is that really so surprising? I mean, I thought we got along well in the future.” Nah sat back up in her seat, “But did it look like we were avoiding each other?”

“Kinda. I only saw you talk once, at the hot springs.”

Nah cringed, “Okay, yeah, I can see how you’d think that.”

“So you’ve certainly succeeded in rekindling a friendship! How do you think you did it?”

“Hey, Cynthia really did all the work. I just hung out with her.” Nah was lying through her teeth, but she was calm enough that Robin wouldn’t notice. She couldn’t smell any suspicion. Might as well throw in something real, too. Nah said, “I mean, the hardest part was getting her to actually open up to us.”

Robin smiled a little, “Ha… She really doesn’t need me, then, does she?”

“No? Why would she need you?” Nah glanced up. At that last remark, Robin had shifted over defensively. She smelled angry. Just a little, but it was noticeable. A pit fell in Nah’s stomach. It was such a rare scent, Robin never got angry at her. Frustrated, maybe, but not angry. Nah shifted over a little, too.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right!” She laughed, and it sounded genuine. Maybe Nah mis-smelled something? “Anyway, It was nice talking to you, Nah. Say hi to-” Robin pursed her lips together, “Nevermind.”

“Hey, don’t leave yet.” Robin’s eyes widened. She smelled embarrassed, and a little scared. “I’ll say hi to Severa for you, okay? She’d probably like that.”

Robin did a double-take on Nah. She murmured, “Oh. Thanks. I mean, really. I’ll just talk to her some other time.”

“Yeah! You don’t want to interrupt her sleep, that’s for sure.” Nah winked, “Uh, and, I was reading something called…” She trailed off, “Shoot, I actually can’t remember it. Hey, stop by my tent later, and I’ll show it to you.”

“Thanks again, Nah. I’ll be seeing you.” Robin hopped off the cart. She took just a few steps, and the cart was already past her.  Nah turned back towards the horses. The darkness surrounding her sent a chill up her spine. At least the moon was light enough to see, for now. Storm clouds loomed in the distance, huge black mounds that blotted out the stars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the biggest struggle for me on this fic was making subtle references to the severa being trans, in this canon, at least. it just doesn't come up that naturally. and besides, in fe, they have magic and stuff that would specifically help with transitioning, it wouldn't be that big a deal in canon. but, since i'm trans, and with the awful stuff happening in the world right now, i want to help people see themselves in my work.
> 
> sorry if you're actually here for porn. this'll be about the ratio of porn/plot for the rest of the series, too

**Author's Note:**

> Okay yeah and don't worry there'll be more vore in the other chapters, (That was a lie, sorry) but hat I like is the intimacy and the trust that's involved, so it might be a little different than your typical stuff? Honestly, the only reason I'm trying this is because of a cool fic that got me into oviposition, yeah, seriously, by approaching it from a different (consensual) direction. (https://archiveofourown.org/works/12076905/chapters/27361986)
> 
> Thanks for reading, feel free to share, leave kudos, or comment!


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